Apollon Wealth Management LLC Has $2.41 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 62.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 678 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 260 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 price objective (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,844.48.

Booking Stock Up 0.2 %

BKNG stock traded up $7.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,605.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 266,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,239. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,526.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,412.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $122.33 billion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $11.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking 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.