Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New $2.79 Million Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 787 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,792,000. Booking makes up approximately 0.7% of Stevens Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abbrea Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 194 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in shares of Booking by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,644,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 280 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $993,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 336 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 858 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,044,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $18.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3,521.08. 138,817 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 266,242. The firm has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3,551.02 and a 200 day moving average of $3,380.07.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, 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. Insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Company 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.