Altman Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Altman Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 45 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.2% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,675.53 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5,469.71 and a 200-day moving average of $5,006.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,449.44.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total transaction of $5,425,698.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,073,911.22. The trade was a 3.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.