First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Booking by 0.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted 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 valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Booking by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 69 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in Booking by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,021 shares of company stock valued at $3,617,852 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.0 %

BKNG stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $3,916.89. 79,413 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 196,260. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,624.50 and a 52-week high of $4,040.00. The stock has a market cap of $132.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $3,783.80 and its 200 day moving average is $3,634.79.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $11.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $3,950.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.