3,981 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Bought by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 3,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,691,186,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at about $1,322,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth about $1,205,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,916,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $472,723,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Booking’s KAYAK brand reported that international airfares for U.K. travelers in September and October are averaging 26% below peak-season levels. Cheaper “shoulder-season” travel could encourage additional bookings and support demand across Booking’s accommodation and travel platforms. KAYAK shoulder-season travel research
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain supportive. Booking’s latest quarterly revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $7.35 billion and earnings exceeded analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a broadly favorable view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $235.72, above recent trading levels. Booking growth-stock analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, or $1.68 annually, representing an approximately 0.8% yield. The payout signals ongoing shareholder returns but is modest and is unlikely to materially affect the stock’s near-term direction.
• Negative Sentiment: Booking Vice President Peter Millones sold 50,050 shares worth approximately $10.4 million, reducing his position by 11.77%. Director Vanessa Ames Wittman separately sold 375 shares for about $79,000. Both transactions were executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as bearish signals; Millones still retains roughly $77.9 million in BKNG stock. Booking insider share sales

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $213.00 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The company has a market capitalization of $160.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.12.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend 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.