Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,200 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $283,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the second quarter worth $375,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at $39,773,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at about $351,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) 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 issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking News Summary

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

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $213.00 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.12. The stock has a market cap of $160.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 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.