Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 22,548 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,396.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,548 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at about $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in Booking by 2,860.8% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after buying an additional 27,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,396,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus increased their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 target price (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.45.

Booking Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $205.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $192.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.64. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $226.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $55.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.