Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Acquires 19 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 961 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 22,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,823,000 after buying an additional 3,101 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,792,000. Abbrea Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 194 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,644,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 280 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $15.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $3,502.48. 142,694 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 267,831. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3,551.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,380.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,456.93 and a twelve month high of $3,918.00.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.67%.

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.