Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Trims Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 347 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Booking by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,539,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Booking by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council increased its stake in Booking by 382.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Ascendiant Capital Markets raised their price objective on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Seven equities research 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,414.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $116.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 1.04 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 50-day simple moving average of $3,571.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,366.94.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $24.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking 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.