Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Increases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 51.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 280 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. Ascendiant Capital Markets boosted their target price on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $15.04 on Thursday, hitting $3,502.48. The stock had a trading volume of 141,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,821. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,456.93 and a one year high of $3,918.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3,555.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,379.22. The company has a market cap of $119.68 billion, a PE ratio of 29.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. Booking’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $24.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given 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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

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.