Insider Selling: Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Sells $79,125.00 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,404,063. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vanessa Ames Wittman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 28th, Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00.

Booking Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of BKNG opened at $209.87 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.15. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.72.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in Booking by 3,475.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.