Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by Zhang Financial LLC

Zhang Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 348 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BKNG. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Ascendiant Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 in the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,414.82 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,456.93 and a 12-month high of $3,918.00. The company has a market cap of $116.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3,571.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,366.94.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.