Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $19,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,068,137,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,184,224,000 after purchasing an additional 5,040 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $596,303,000 after purchasing an additional 112,831 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 217,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $510,828,000 after purchasing an additional 5,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.8% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 149,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $462,290,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BKNG. UBS Group upped their price target on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Ascendiant Capital Markets upped their price objective on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price objective on the stock. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $17.89 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,467.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 144,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,966. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,595.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,360.99. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,456.93 and a twelve month high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $118.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $24.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the business’s 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 transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,498.29, for a total value of $97,952.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $815,101.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,689 shares of company stock valued at $16,086,423 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.