Sowell Financial Services LLC Has $1.19 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,503.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,409 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Booking by 1,497.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Booking by 66,209.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,600,000 after purchasing an additional 658,788 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,548.6% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,785,000 after purchasing an additional 625,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $3,271,041,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. 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 69,625 shares of company stock valued at $11,652,075 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price target on Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $212.26 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $182.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

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.