Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 813 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in Booking by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its position in Booking by 0.8% during the third quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 487 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in Booking by 0.7% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 601 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Booking from $3,250.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Eight 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,697.38.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $45.62 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3,627.88. 274,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 287,796. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3,584.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,316.81. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $24.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CFO David I. Goulden sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,494.47, for a total value of $3,494,470.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,657,571.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Booking news, CFO David I. Goulden sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,494.47, for a total value of $3,494,470.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,657,571.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,498.29, for a total value of $97,952.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,101.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114 over the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.