IFG Advisory LLC Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

IFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Booking by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 382.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. NatWest Group plc increased its holdings in Booking by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 3,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,114,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 11,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,917,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,697.38.

Booking Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $3,673.50 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,456.93 and a fifty-two week high of $3,918.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,580.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,314.29. The company has a market cap of $125.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

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.