Ewout Steenbergen Sells 20,000 Shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) CFO Ewout Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $184.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.04. The company has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at about $992,026,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at about $550,554,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Gordon Haskett boosted their target price on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.