Insider Selling: Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) VP Sells 50,050 Shares

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) VP Peter Millones sold 50,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $3.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $208.20. 4,534,342 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,403,101. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $184.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.85. The stock has a market cap of $156.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth about $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $992,026,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $770,673,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.