Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 261.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 253 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in Booking by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in Booking by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. increased its stake in Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in Booking by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 69 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 601 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley started coverage on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities raised their target price on Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Ascendiant Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Seven 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded up $18.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $3,521.08. 146,026 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 193,606. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $3,547.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,383.62. The company has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 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.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $24.74 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

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.