XML Financial LLC Buys 4,403 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,530.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,403 shares during the quarter. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after buying an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Booking by 66,209.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 658,788 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 625,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $3,271,041,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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, 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 transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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%.

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.