Traders Buy Large Volume of Booking Call Options (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 21,239 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 31% compared to the typical volume of 16,213 call options.

Booking Trading Up 4.9%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $9.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $195.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,527,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,595,986. Booking has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $172.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.43. The stock has a market cap of $151.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Booking will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Gordon Haskett upped their price target on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. HSBC reduced their price target 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $361,463,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $210,352,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in Booking by 862.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,890,000 after buying an additional 195,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 36.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.