Maridea Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 6,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,190,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $489,000. Bank Hapoalim BM acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $1,907,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $235,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,812,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% 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 a total of 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $212.06 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.00 and a 200-day moving average of $176.65. The company has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective (up from $225.00) 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 report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.