E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 433.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $74,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in Booking by 13.1% in the first quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,900,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 17,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $82,072,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 57.9% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total value of $5,425,698.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 27,646 shares in the company, valued at $148,073,911.22. This trade represents a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,333.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,639.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5,195.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,943.03.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 143.67% and a net margin of 22.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,388.37.

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.