Krilogy Financial LLC Acquires 11,590 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3,264.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,590 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 1.6% of Krilogy Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $50,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $361,463,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $51,396,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 862.0% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,890,000 after buying an additional 195,411 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 56,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $300,364,000 after buying an additional 15,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,604,000 after acquiring an additional 11,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% 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 sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Up 0.7%

BKNG stock opened at $168.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $130.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $233.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $169.15 and a 200-day moving average of $183.04.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. Argus boosted their target price on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

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.