Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 4,278 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,239.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,278 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $179,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $245 price target, implying approximately 25% upside from the referenced share price. The firm views Booking as the best-positioned online travel agency despite industry challenges, providing a potentially meaningful catalyst for the shares. Rosenblatt sees Booking as the best-positioned online travel agency
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks characterized Booking as a strong momentum stock based on its style-score framework, reinforcing the case that recent price and fundamental trends could attract momentum-oriented investors. Why Booking is a strong momentum stock
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank brokers raised their earnings estimates for Booking, suggesting improving expectations for the company’s future profitability. Higher forecasts can support valuation, although the article provides no details on the size or rationale of the revisions. Erste Group Bank lifts Booking earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Priceline CEO Brigit Zimmerman discussed travel trends ahead of the Labor Day weekend. The interview may offer insight into demand and booking patterns, but the available report does not specify whether the commentary was favorable or unfavorable for Booking. Priceline CEO discusses travel trends
• Negative Sentiment: Booking has lagged the broader market this year, which could weigh on investor sentiment and highlights concerns about online-travel-sector growth or valuation. Separately, director Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares worth about $610,440 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; the planned nature of the transaction reduces its signaling value, but it remains a modest negative headline.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $195.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $193.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.91. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $226.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $188.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 80,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,722,744 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.