Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 97 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 18.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 625 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Booking by 4.8% during the third quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. now owns 196 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,057,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 79 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 211 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management boosted its stake in Booking by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 14,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,623,000 after acquiring an additional 6,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management acquired a new position in Booking during the third quarter valued at approximately $119,522,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Down 0.2%

BKNG stock opened at $5,426.52 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5,090.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,371.99. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,096.23 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $174.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $83.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wedbush upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Mizuho set a $6,000.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total value of $75,450.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 717 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,510. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.