Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 23.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,717 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,092 shares during the quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Booking by 1,615.6% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 13,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 13,119 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 2,860.8% in the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 1,663.9% during the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,071 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 4,630.9% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,309,000 after buying an additional 23,664 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $157.10. 2,626,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,170,014. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $185.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.83. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $220.81.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 24th. Truist Financial set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.95.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total transaction of $610,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,935,432. The trade was a 3.93% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $17,182,274. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.