Booking Stock Scheduled to Split on Monday, April 6th (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s stock is going to split before the market opens on Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,062.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $128.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.21. Booking has a twelve month low of $3,765.45 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4,458.66 and a 200 day moving average of $4,957.14.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $47.96 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $41.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $10.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $9.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $42.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 25.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $6,150.00 to $5,500.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Booking from $6,600.00 to $6,000.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Oppenheimer set a $6,000.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Gordon Haskett lowered their price target on Booking from $5,440.00 to $5,370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Argus cut their price objective on Booking from $6,400.00 to $4,700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,845.61.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total transaction of $77,867.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,566,320.05. This represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total transaction of $204,214.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 840 shares in the company, valued at $4,288,502.40. The trade was a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,749 shares of company stock worth $12,571,467. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in Booking by 191,965.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 28,353.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after buying an additional 203,580 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 862.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after buying an additional 195,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.