Valmark Advisers Inc. Purchases Shares of 54 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 54 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,718,390,000 after purchasing an additional 12,456 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,865,949,000 after buying an additional 21,969 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $1,742,160,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,336,085,000 after buying an additional 15,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in Booking by 3.1% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,421,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,068.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 2.4 %

BKNG opened at $3,813.78 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,786.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,698.42.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

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.