Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 336 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 8.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 0.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 3.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council lifted its holdings in Booking by 382.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. Mizuho increased their price target on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $24.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $3,526.73. 38,977 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 264,962. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,551.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,380.07. The company has a market capitalization of $119.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,456.93 and a 12 month high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The firm’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 posted $24.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking 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 sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 value of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, 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 three months. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.