13,096 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Acquired by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 13,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,511,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Booking by 2,479.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after purchasing an additional 112,249 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $3,774,850,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $220,080,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 96.3% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 113,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $403,233,000 after acquiring an additional 55,716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $3,950.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,902.54.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded up $29.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $3,982.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 64,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,630. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,674.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,580.27. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,605.00 and a 1 year high of $3,987.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $11.60 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Booking’s payout ratio is 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.