Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Purchases 19 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 961 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Down 0.4 %

BKNG traded down $15.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3,502.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 142,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,831. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3,551.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,380.07. 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 cap of $119.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. Insiders own 0.15% 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.