Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Bought by Krilogy Financial LLC

Krilogy Financial LLC grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 251.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,947 shares during the quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Booking by 2,674.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,026,348,000 after purchasing an additional 37,999,915 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased 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 valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth $1,691,186,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth $1,370,455,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus raised their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $240.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.95.

Booking Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of BKNG traded down $2.35 on Friday, hitting $163.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,370,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,414,531. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $182.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.50. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $220.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.13.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $55.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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, Director Robert Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,800,000. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 84,550 shares of company stock valued at $17,426,864 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.