Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Purchases 43,822 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,923.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,822 shares during the period. Booking makes up about 1.2% of Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in Booking by 2,400.0% during the 2nd 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 stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% 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. Insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Gordon Haskett upped their price target on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $213.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.00. 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 business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.