Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $39,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.4% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors raised its stake in Booking by 2.3% during the second quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,113,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,016.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,188.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,347.54. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $4,096.23 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $83.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total value of $80,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,124. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,190,323 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 4th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wedbush upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Booking from $5,523.00 to $5,954.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,225.56.

Booking 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.