Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $1,958,352,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Booking by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after acquiring an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 0.3%

BKNG stock opened at $5,304.03 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,639.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a PE ratio of 33.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5,180.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,947.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $20.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,388.37.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total value of $5,425,698.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 27,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,073,911.22. This represents a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.