Thomasville National Bank Invests $51.57 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Thomasville National Bank acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 289,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $51,567,000. Booking makes up 2.8% of Thomasville National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $212.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.16 and a 200-day moving average of $176.92. The company has a market cap of $159.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Booking 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.