Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 253 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $896,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $1,068,137,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Booking by 3,557.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 142,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,870,000 after acquiring an additional 138,279 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $596,303,000 after acquiring an additional 112,831 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after acquiring an additional 112,249 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $222,919,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO David I. Goulden sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,494.47, for a total value of $3,494,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,657,571.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,697.38.

Booking Stock Up 0.0 %

BKNG stock traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3,675.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 29,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 283,546. The company has a market capitalization of $125.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.40. 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 50 day moving average price of $3,580.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,314.29.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.