Wick Capital Partners LLC Takes $55.15 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $55,149,000. Booking accounts for about 4.0% of Wick Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Booking in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $171.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $169.61 and a 200-day moving average of $183.60. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Susquehanna set a $260.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Booking from $260.00 to $237.40 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

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.