Smith Salley Wealth Management Acquires 126 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 26.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 599 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Booking by 15.6% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,958,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Booking by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,284,000 after acquiring an additional 11,829 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 67.3% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $174,893,000 after buying an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Covey Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 1.0% in the second quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 12.7% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,262,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Barclays increased their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 960 shares in the company, valued at $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total transaction of $3,091,696.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,759,275.30. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,427.15 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5,116.39 and its 200-day moving average is $5,370.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.92 billion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $83.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

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.