Bourgeon Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 8 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in Booking by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,618,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 1,989 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,055,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Booking by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 15,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,709,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $592,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, B. Riley assumed coverage on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $14,752,005. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,689 shares of company stock valued at $16,086,423. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $3,485.63 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The firm has a market cap of $119.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3,595.13 and a 200 day moving average of $3,360.99.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $24.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 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.