Simplicity Wealth LLC Sells 147 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Simplicity Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 43.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 400.0% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BKNG. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Gordon Haskett lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,620.00 to $5,710.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $7,447.00 to $7,656.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,523.00 to $5,954.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $6,325.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,209.94.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,098.50 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $5,191.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,339.91. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $83.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total transaction of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,631,984.10. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,190,323 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.