Vest Financial LLC Has $50.51 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $50,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Booking by 150.0% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 100.0% during the second quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,096.59 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5,188.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,347.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total value of $77,867.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,566,320.05. This trade represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total transaction of $4,937,817.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,631,984.10. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,190,323. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Seaport Global Securities lifted their price objective on Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, B. Riley increased their target price on Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,225.56.

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.