Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Position Lifted by Lake Street Advisors Group LLC

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 30.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 292 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after acquiring an additional 112,249 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $401,371,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,774,850,000. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $220,080,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BKNG. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $3,950.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 target price (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,032.00.

Booking Stock Down 2.9 %

Booking stock traded down $113.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $3,805.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 322,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,858. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,733.04 and a 12 month high of $4,144.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,889.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,683.61. The company has a market capitalization of $129.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $11.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.55 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 999 shares of company stock valued at $3,939,187 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% 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.