Meritage Portfolio Management Boosts Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.2% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $17,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council grew its holdings in Booking by 382.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets started 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 for the company. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock traded up $15.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $3,517.65. 74,608 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 265,417. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3,551.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,380.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The firm has a market cap of $119.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $24.74 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’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 value of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 in the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.