Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $975,000 Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Wright Investors Service Inc. cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 37.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 64,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $151,044,000 after buying an additional 17,432 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Booking by 18.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at $387,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 2.0% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,767,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 7.5% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $34.99 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3,478.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 49,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 272,539. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The company has a market capitalization of $118.87 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,586.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,364.25.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

About Booking

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.