Zhang Financial LLC Has $1.23 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 348 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 8.8% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.6% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 382.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Trading Down 0.4 %

Booking stock opened at $3,414.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3,571.22 and a 200-day moving average of $3,366.94.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the company earned $24.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

Insider Activity at Booking

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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.