Vest Financial LLC Buys 264 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $50,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 400.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 150.0% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Bank of America raised Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Booking from $7,447.00 to $7,656.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,830.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,225.56.

Booking Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,096.59 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,096.23 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5,188.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,347.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,190,323 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.