Lipe & Dalton Buys 4,515 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Lipe & Dalton increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3,344.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,515 shares during the quarter. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Booking were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Booking by 419,256.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 214,651,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,259,498,000 after purchasing an additional 214,600,394 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 2,525.5% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,597,000 after acquiring an additional 5,869,459 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $188.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.70.

Booking Stock Down 6.7%

Booking stock traded down $12.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $180.30. 10,875,922 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,162,280. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $225.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $194.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.72. The company has a market cap of $135.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $55.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, 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 value of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 81,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,922,744 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking 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.