Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $21.86 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $21,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at $401,371,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $24,841,000. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its stake in shares of Booking by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,021 shares of company stock valued at $3,617,852 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 price objective (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Nine equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,902.54.

Booking Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,009.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $136.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,624.50 and a 12 month high of $4,040.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3,737.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,616.64.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $11.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

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.