Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 18,335 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,335.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,335 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $361,463,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,396,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,352,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in Booking by 862.0% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,890,000 after purchasing an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Booking by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 56,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $300,364,000 after purchasing an additional 15,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $212.26 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.92. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The company has a market cap of $159.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.72.

Booking Company 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.