Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Booking makes up 1.3% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council increased its stake in Booking by 382.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s 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 owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 over the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 target price for the company. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $15.92 during trading on Monday, reaching $3,505.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 75,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.25 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3,547.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,388.10. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00.

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 firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The company’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $24.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 29.67%.

About Booking

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.