Booking Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 66,011 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 340% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,011 call options.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $178.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.08. Booking has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $233.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $168.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.26.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 stock was 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 $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $361,463,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Booking by 862.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,352,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 15,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $214.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.11.

About Booking

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.