Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 66,011 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 340% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,011 call options.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $1,057,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 14.4% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 89,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $375,645,000 after buying an additional 11,235 shares during the period. Carmignac Gestion purchased a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter worth about $62,069,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,406,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 11.0% during the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,934,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $226.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays set a $210.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.11.

Booking Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $4.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $177.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,597,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,016,018. Booking has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $233.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $169.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.29. The firm has a market cap of $137.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Booking will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

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.