JM2 Capital Inc. Boosts Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

JM2 Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,413.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,247 shares during the quarter. JM2 Capital Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Trading Up 0.5%

BKNG opened at $213.34 on Friday. The firm 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 fifty day moving average price of $183.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. UBS Group raised their price objective on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

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.