Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Buys 8 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 194 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in Booking by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp raised its holdings in Booking by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 138 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,482.23 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,639.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5,213.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,946.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,388.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

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