Insider Selling: Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Sells $80,430.00 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total transaction of $80,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,124. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Vanessa Ames Wittman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 17th, Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total transaction of $75,450.00.
• On Wednesday, October 15th, Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total value of $79,379.70.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,345.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $172.28 billion, a PE ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,096.23 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5,072.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5,376.97.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $83.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Mizuho set a $6,000.00 target price on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. Gordon Haskett boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,620.00 to $5,710.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective on Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at about $2,210,917,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 578,824.0% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,675,765,000 after acquiring an additional 289,412 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 658,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 105,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,441,000 after acquiring an additional 105,428 shares in the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. purchased a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $536,675,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking in the third quarter valued at approximately $468,252,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.