Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman Sells 15 Shares

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total transaction of $80,430.00. Following the sale, the director owned 702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,124. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction of $79,379.70.

Booking Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $20.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $5,436.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 220,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 251,118. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,061.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5,377.90. The company has a market capitalization of $175.23 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $83.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth about $26,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

About Booking

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.