Focus Partners Wealth Grows Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,261 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned about 0.07% of Booking worth $118,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $361,463,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Booking by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 22,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $122,396,000 after buying an additional 1,514 shares in the last quarter. Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $51,396,000. Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $347,604,000 after buying an additional 11,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 56,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $300,364,000 after buying an additional 15,053 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $164.94 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $233.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $169.43 and its 200 day moving average is $184.06. The company has a market cap of $127.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus increased their price target on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

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.