Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Sells 3 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3 shares during the quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Booking were worth $646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 1,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 11 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Booking by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Shipley& Co Ltd increased its position in shares of Booking by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 17 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $38.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $3,634.61. 146,794 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 285,652. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,456.93 and a 12-month high of $3,918.00. The company has a market cap of $124.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3,580.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,314.29.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $24.74 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,467 shares of company stock worth $22,299,114 in the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BKNG. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com cut Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,697.38.

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.