GTS Securities LLC Purchases 2,615 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

GTS Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1,233.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% during the second 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. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% 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 sold a total of 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $205.63 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $154.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $226.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $192.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.64.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.45.

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.