Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $71,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 100.0% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,445.72 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5,141.87 and a 200-day moving average of $5,372.90. The stock has a market cap of $175.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total transaction of $75,450.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,510. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at $7,570,000. This trade represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,156.48.

About Booking

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.