Paulo Pisano Sells 3,000 Shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total transaction of $610,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,935,432. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $199.60 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.12. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $226.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.07.

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. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its position in Booking by 2,860.8% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% during the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $51,396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wedbush increased their price target on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.70.

Key Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a Buy/Strong Buy rating and a $245 price target, implying roughly 23% upside from the referenced share price. The firm considers Booking one of the best-positioned online travel agencies despite industry challenges. Rosenblatt sees Booking as the best-positioned online travel agency
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating results support the bullish analyst view. Booking’s latest reported quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue increasing 8.1% year over year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share.
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum-focused coverage was favorable. Zacks identified Booking as a strong momentum stock, noting its recent performance relative to the broader market. This may encourage continued interest from momentum-oriented investors. Why Booking is a strong momentum stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Priceline CEO Brigit Zimmerman discussed travel trends ahead of the Labor Day weekend. The commentary could provide insight into travel demand, but the available report does not indicate whether the trends were specifically positive or negative for Booking. Priceline CEO discusses travel trends
• Negative Sentiment: Insiders reported stock sales. Director Robert J. Mylod Jr. sold 1,000 shares for approximately $200,000, while insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares for about $610,440. Both transactions were executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as signals of deteriorating business prospects. Booking insider stock sales

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.