Newport Capital Group LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Newport Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 21,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $115,000. Newport Capital Group LLC owned 0.07% of Booking as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $361,463,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Booking by 7.2% during the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 22,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Longbow Finance SA grew its position in Booking by 121.9% during the third quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 1,875 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in Booking by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,604,000 after acquiring an additional 11,042 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $164.94 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $233.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $169.43 and a 200-day moving average of $184.10. The company has a market capitalization of $127.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. 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 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Booking from $260.00 to $237.40 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Benchmark lowered their price target on Booking from $256.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays set a $210.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

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.