Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by MBM Wealth Consultants LLC

MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,860.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 0.4% of MBM Wealth Consultants LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,434,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Booking by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Lakewood Asset Management LLC increased its position in Booking by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 655 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,508,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Booking by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $212.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $184.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.84. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $231.80. The company has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $55.40 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.