Investors Buy Large Volume of Booking Call Options (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 21,239 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 31% compared to the average daily volume of 16,213 call options.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,169,536. The trade was 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. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Platform Technology Partners raised its holdings in Booking by 2,190.2% in the 2nd quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 3,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811 shares during the last quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,542.2% during the second quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 63,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,260,000 after purchasing an additional 60,784 shares during the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,480.8% during the second quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 2,614.8% in the second quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,824 shares during the period. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Booking by 1,895.5% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 439 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.05.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock traded down $9.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $191.84. 1,439,582 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,587,174. Booking has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.49. The company has a market capitalization of $148.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.