Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $39,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,936,132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 379,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,197,495,000 after purchasing an additional 24,030 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Booking by 4.9% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 377,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,183,690,000 after purchasing an additional 17,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 578,824.0% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,765,000 after purchasing an additional 289,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total transaction of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,631,984.10. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,190,323. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,523.00 to $5,954.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,225.56.

Booking Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,016.26 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5,188.73 and a 200 day moving average of $5,347.54. The company has a market capitalization of $161.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $83.39 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

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.