Distillate Capital Partners LLC Has $25.81 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 162,750.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,510 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up 1.4% of Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $25,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 price objective for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,097.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $139.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,772.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,733.66. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,144.32.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

About Booking

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.