Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,539,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth about $401,371,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,841,000. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its stake in shares of Booking by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,916.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $132.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,768.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,629.72. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,624.50 and a 52 week high of $4,040.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The company’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. On average, analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC raised their target price on Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, May 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,902.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was 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 owns 211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.