GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC Buys 139 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 339.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the second quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Booking by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 488 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors boosted its position in Booking by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Gordon Haskett lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,620.00 to $5,710.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. 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 note on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,830.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 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 given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,179.42.

Booking Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,314.71 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5,171.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,368.86. The company has a market cap of $171.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.23. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $4,096.23 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total value of $3,091,696.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,759,275.30. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,296 shares of company stock valued at $11,862,154 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% 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.