Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $56.71 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $56,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $1,068,137,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Booking by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,184,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,040 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Booking by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $596,303,000 after acquiring an additional 112,831 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 2.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 217,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $510,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its stake in Booking by 2.8% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 149,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $462,290,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value 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 approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value 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 approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,497.80, for a total value of $97,938.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,234.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,467 shares of company stock worth $22,299,114 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Ascendiant Capital Markets upped their price objective on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given 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 $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $3,531.80 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,456.93 and a 12-month high of $3,918.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $3,597.92 and its 200 day moving average is $3,358.31. The stock has a market cap of $120.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $24.74 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.