Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 31,709 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $125,615,000. Booking makes up about 4.4% of Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Booking at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 available through the SEC website. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the 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 transaction of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,064.21.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,248.10 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,789.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,752.18. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,733.04 and a 12 month high of $4,272.88. The company has a market capitalization of $142.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $37.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.