KCM Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 341 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the first quarter worth $401,371,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 32,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $113,827,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,234,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $879,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Barclays cut their price target on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 target price (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,068.32.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $3,909.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $132.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3,793.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,696.44. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $37.62 earnings per share. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.