Sculati Wealth Management LLC Has $454,000 Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,400.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in Booking by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring 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 acquired a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BKNG. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett raised their price target on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $213.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. 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 payout ratio 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.