Aspen Grove Capital LLC Has $69.48 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Aspen Grove Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,130 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up about 12.0% of Aspen Grove Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Aspen Grove Capital LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $69,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $361,463,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Booking by 7.2% during the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 22,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares in the last quarter. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,396,000. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,604,000 after purchasing an additional 11,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 56,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $300,364,000 after purchasing an additional 15,053 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.14.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $175.72 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $233.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.94. The company has a market capitalization of $136.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.