Cetera Trust Company N.A Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,395,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Booking during the second quarter valued at $276,000. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $214,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,771.5% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 59,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,533,000 after acquiring an additional 57,038 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Asset One Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $317,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 target price on Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.45.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $213.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $160.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $189.38 and its 200 day moving average is $177.09. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $230.98.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted 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. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% 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 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.