SageView Advisory Group LLC Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 163.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $1,742,160,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,362,000 after buying an additional 15,381 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Booking by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 131,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $466,166,000 after buying an additional 29,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 126,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $448,404,000 after buying an additional 6,606 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,876.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $14,752,005. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,651 shares of company stock valued at $19,485,975 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of BKNG traded up $42.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $3,795.35. 151,814 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 262,719. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The company has a market cap of $128.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,604.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,499.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

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.