Fulcrum Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 2,400 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Fulcrum Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. Fulcrum Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Southern Michigan Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Booking by 2,411.5% during the 2nd quarter. Southern Michigan Bank & Trust now owns 2,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 2,098 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Booking by 2,334.5% in the 2nd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 70,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,623,000 after buying an additional 67,911 shares during the last quarter. Crux Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2,530.5% in the second quarter. Crux Wealth Advisors now owns 16,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after buying an additional 16,119 shares during the period. Novem Group increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1,973.4% in the second quarter. Novem Group now owns 2,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 2,743 shares during the period. Finally, Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% during the second quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction 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. The trade was 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. Insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BKNG. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $213.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.