Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) CFO Ewout Steenbergen Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) CFO Ewout Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $213.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80. The stock 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 posted 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 the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $55.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. L2 Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $792,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,132,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,395,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $276,000. Finally, Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $214,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Argus boosted their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore set a $245.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

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.