Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Grows Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,968.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,604 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. The trade was a 23.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Gordon Haskett increased their price objective on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $184.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. 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 firm 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 dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio 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.