Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Position Increased by Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,400.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,376 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN lifted its holdings in Booking by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BKNG. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wedbush raised their price target on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett boosted their price objective on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $213.34 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The stock has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $183.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.