Castleark Management LLC Makes New $6.31 Million Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Castleark Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,310,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,301.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $170.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5,061.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,378.89. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $83.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 960 shares in the company, valued at $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at $7,570,000. This trade represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,388 shares of company stock worth $17,629,822 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $5,433.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Mizuho set a $6,000.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,149.23.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.