Sapient Capital LLC Purchases 35 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sapient Capital LLC raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $30,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake 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 buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $28,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial started coverage on Booking in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,092.68.

Booking Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,297.42 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,328.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3,885.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,798.34.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.