Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 93 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3 shares during the quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Certuity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 349 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Booking stock traded down $62.04 on Tuesday, hitting $3,452.76. 165,472 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 263,263. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3,543.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,391.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The business’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

Booking Company 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.