Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 101 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 51.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 298 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 3,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,407,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 253 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,201,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Middleton & Co. Inc. MA bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,017.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $134.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $3,771.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,720.94. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,733.04 and a fifty-two week high of $4,144.32.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,064.21.

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.