One Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 11,339 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

One Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,021,000. Booking accounts for 0.2% of One Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% during the second quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN raised its holdings in Booking by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $212.06 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $184.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.65. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 $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 available through the SEC website. 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 directly 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Barclays set a $210.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

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.