United Asset Strategies Inc. Sells 12 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

United Asset Strategies Inc. cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 492 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Booking by 8.8% during 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 last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $24,841,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Booking by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council increased its position in Booking by 382.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, 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 available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,689 shares of company stock worth $16,086,423 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Trading Down 0.5 %

BKNG stock opened at $3,467.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,591.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,363.69. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $118.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $24.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. B. Riley initiated coverage on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 target price on the stock. Ascendiant Capital Markets increased their target price on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s 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 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.