WP Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

WP Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 638 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 1.0% of WP Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. WP Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $41,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $46,000. Mechanics Financial Corp purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $6,700.00 price objective (up previously from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 target price (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,405.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $175.21 billion, a PE ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,394.85 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,569.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,100.99.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $41.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

About Booking

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.