Equitable Trust Co. Grows Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Equitable Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 10.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Booking from $3,700.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,068.32.

Booking Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $3,909.23 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3,791.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,696.62. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32. The company has a market capitalization of $131.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $37.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.