Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,168,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter worth about $401,371,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $220,080,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 4,565.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 61,268 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 29.2% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $702,049,000 after purchasing an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 106.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,590,000 after purchasing an additional 36,710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,064.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,187.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,824.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,773.71. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,272.88.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $37.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.