Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman Sells 375 Shares

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vanessa Ames Wittman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 28th, Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00.

Booking Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $3.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $208.20. 4,535,298 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,403,101. The company has a market capitalization of $156.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.85.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.42 dividend. 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%.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Booking by 3,475.0% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 3,550.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN grew its stake in Booking by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett lifted their price target on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

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.