Anomaly Capital Management LP Purchases 12,124 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Anomaly Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 134.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,124 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up about 3.2% of Anomaly Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Anomaly Capital Management LP owned about 0.06% of Booking worth $83,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Booking by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Booking in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $3,590.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,064.01 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,144.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3,772.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,729.29.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $37.62 EPS. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Profile

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.