Navalign LLC Has $1.20 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Navalign LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 337 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16 shares during the quarter. Navalign LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Booking by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 64,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $151,044,000 after buying an additional 17,432 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Booking by 18.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $387,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Booking by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,767,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Booking by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,498.29, for a total value of $97,952.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $815,101.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,498.29, for a total transaction of $97,952.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,101.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114 in the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Down 1.2 %

BKNG traded down $45.62 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3,627.88. The company had a trading volume of 274,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 287,796. The company has a market capitalization of $123.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,456.93 and a one year high of $3,918.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3,584.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,316.81.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $24.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,697.38.

Booking Company 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.