Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $7.23 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,300.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,875 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $7,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Anchyra Partners LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 2,432.3% during the second quarter. Anchyra Partners LLC now owns 4,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 3,916 shares during the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,588.7% in the second quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. now owns 5,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 5,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,414.4% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 2,342 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,084.2% during the 2nd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,100,500. The trade was a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.04. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend 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 presently 18.58%.

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.