Wynn Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Wynn Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 158 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $560,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 2,479.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after acquiring an additional 112,249 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,774,850,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Booking by 139.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 65,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $201,166,000 after acquiring an additional 37,994 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Booking by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,313,000 after acquiring an additional 30,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its holdings in Booking by 161.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 39,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,937,000 after acquiring an additional 24,219 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seaport Res Ptn restated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Ascendiant Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $16.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $3,517.52. 155,523 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 269,409. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,456.93 and a 12-month high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $3,560.40 and a 200-day moving average of $3,378.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $24.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

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.