Lakewood Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 165,200 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Lakewood Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 165,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,445,000. Booking accounts for about 1.5% of Lakewood Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $992,026,000. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 value 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 $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 this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% 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. Insiders have sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $213.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $189.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.09. The company has a market cap of $160.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $230.98.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.45.

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.