&Partners Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

&Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $1,742,160,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Booking by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,336,362,000 after purchasing an additional 15,381 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 275,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $976,096,000 after purchasing an additional 9,419 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 152,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $540,955,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 29,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, May 6th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Nine 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,902.54.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,989.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,605.00 and a 52 week high of $4,004.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3,705.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,603.62.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio 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.