Insider Selling: Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) VP Sells $10,389,879.50 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) VP Peter Millones sold 50,050 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $209.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $157.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.15.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. Booking’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus upped their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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 eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

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.