Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $22.89 Million Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 128,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,892,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 3,550.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in Booking by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $202.56 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.49. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $226.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.