Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Position Trimmed by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 569 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises 3.1% of Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $58,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Seven investment 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $18.60 on Friday, hitting $3,521.08. 146,026 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 193,606. The firm has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,547.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,385.88.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The company’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

Booking 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.