Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Mayar Capital Ltd.

Mayar Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,220 shares during the period. Booking makes up 7.7% of Mayar Capital Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Mayar Capital Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $6,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after purchasing an additional 23,159 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,685,520,000 after buying an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Booking by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Booking by 1,497.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,665,168,000 after buying an additional 816,022 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $184.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.04. The stock has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Booking

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.