Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 37.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after buying an additional 112,249 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $3,774,850,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Booking by 139.8% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 65,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $201,166,000 after purchasing an additional 37,994 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Booking by 41.8% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $317,313,000 after purchasing an additional 30,015 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 161.5% during the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 39,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,937,000 after purchasing an additional 24,219 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.2 %

BKNG opened at $3,605.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $122.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,528.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,418.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $11.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,424 shares of company stock worth $18,673,145 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,844.48.

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.