HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 241,378 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,591.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 241,378 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $44,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Booking by 25.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in Booking by 50.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $179,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total value of $610,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares in the company, valued at $14,935,432. The trade was a 3.93% 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. Insiders sold a total of 81,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,922,744 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.70.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $193.29 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $226.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $194.53 and its 200 day moving average is $178.71. The company has a market cap of $145.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.07.

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 business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $55.40 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Booking 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.