Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Acquires 84,461 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,516.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 84,461 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $15,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Financial Corp IN raised its position in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,100,500. This trade represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This 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 three months, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus increased their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $213.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $183.08 and its 200 day moving average is $177.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results 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. 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.