Allen Capital Group LLC Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Allen Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 460 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Booking by 8.8% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 0.6% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,841,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Booking by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council lifted its position in Booking by 382.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,689 shares of company stock worth $16,086,423 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $17.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3,467.77. 210,907 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 276,914. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,595.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,360.99. The company has a market cap of $118.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $24.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Ascendiant Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

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.