Procyon Advisors LLC Buys 295 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 101.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 587 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,433.00 to $5,407.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Benchmark boosted their price target on Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Booking from $5,523.00 to $5,954.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,179.42.

Booking Trading Down 2.4%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,187.02 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5,176.65 and its 200-day moving average is $5,367.59. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $167.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $83.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total value of $80,430.00. Following the sale, the director owned 702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,124. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,296 shares of company stock valued at $11,862,154. Company insiders own 0.16% 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.