Aspen Grove Capital LLC Sells 7,000 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Aspen Grove Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 54.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the period. Booking comprises 4.9% of Aspen Grove Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Aspen Grove Capital LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $25,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.05.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $172.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $231.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $171.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.12.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

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.