Financial Enhancement Group LLC Has $18.46 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,623.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,224 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 2.3% of Financial Enhancement Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Financial Enhancement Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $18,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 50.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $179,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $180.84 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price target (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

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.