L2 Asset Management LLC Makes New $792,000 Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

L2 Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,132,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,395,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2,771.5% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 59,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,533,000 after acquiring an additional 57,038 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This trade represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $213.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $160.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $230.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $189.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.09.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business 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%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

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.