Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Acquires 60,784 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,542.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,784 shares during the period. Booking accounts for 1.2% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,685,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett boosted their target price on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $212.06 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80. The company has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $184.00 and its 200 day moving average is $176.65.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. The trade was a 23.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 business’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 completion of 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 position. 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 a total of 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 company insiders.

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.