Meritage Portfolio Management Buys 359 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises approximately 1.2% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $17,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. 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. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $15.17 on Friday, reaching $3,517.65. The stock had a trading volume of 74,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,417. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $119.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,551.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,380.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $24.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 presently 29.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.