Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 30.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,227 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $93,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Booking by 25.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in Booking by 50.0% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays set a $210.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Booking from $226.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Up 1.0%

Booking stock opened at $184.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $169.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Booking 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.