Everpar Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 142 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 142 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 8.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,841,000. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $879,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. UBS Group upped 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. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,844.48.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the 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 approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the 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 90 days, insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $7.00 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,605.41. 266,281 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 270,239. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $122.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3,528.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,418.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. Booking’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

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.