X Square Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

X Square Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 18,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,371,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at $1,370,455,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $472,723,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $209.62 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.00. The stock has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,100,500. This trade represents a 6.25% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.