Larson Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 87.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 in the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their price target on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $3,517.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $120.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.82, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,456.93 and a one year high of $3,918.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,555.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,379.22.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

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.