Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Purchases 10,164 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,195.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,164 shares during the quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was 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 the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

BKNG stock opened at $212.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $184.00 and a 200 day moving average of $177.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. Booking’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 business posted $55.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

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.