Fiduciary Trust Co Purchases 398 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Fiduciary Trust Co raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 32.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after acquiring an additional 112,249 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $3,774,850,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Booking by 139.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 65,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $201,166,000 after purchasing an additional 37,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Booking by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,313,000 after purchasing an additional 30,015 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now 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 available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, 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 worth $19,485,975 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,876.96.

Booking Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of BKNG traded down $55.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $3,734.29. The company had a trading volume of 217,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 264,267. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3,617.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,513.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $11.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.25%.

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.