Vise Technologies Inc. Buys New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 34,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $1,370,455,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after buying an additional 23,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% in 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 buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This trade represents a 11.77% 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 have sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $209.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $187.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.15.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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 presently 18.58%.

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.