Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 776 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 112,249 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $3,774,850,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $220,080,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 96.3% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 113,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $403,233,000 after acquiring an additional 55,716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $2.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3,859.10. The company had a trading volume of 143,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 195,266. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,667.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,571.31. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,587.18 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $130.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $11.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Barclays reduced their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC increased their price target on Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,902.54.

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.