Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock: Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Decreases Position

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,717 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,092 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 249.6% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 5,099 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.1% during the third quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 23,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,772,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 309.7% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 381 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its position in shares of Booking by 27.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 75,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,237,000 after acquiring an additional 16,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argus Investors Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,090,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $1.33 on Tuesday, reaching $157.10. 2,626,623 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,170,014. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $220.81. The company has a market capitalization of $118.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $185.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.83.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Peter Millones, Jr. sold 50,050 shares of Booking 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders sold 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $17,182,274. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $188.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Benchmark raised their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.95.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.