Csenge Advisory Group Makes New $463,000 Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its stake in Booking by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 53 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its stake in Booking by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $209.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $157.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $187.71 and its 200 day moving average is $177.15. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. Argus increased their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays set a $210.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

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.