First American Trust FSB Reduces Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

First American Trust FSB decreased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises approximately 1.3% of First American Trust FSB’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Booking were worth $10,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in Booking by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Booking by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in Booking by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 487 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,502,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Booking by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 601 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BKNG. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $46.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $3,485.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 207,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,787. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3,597.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,358.31. The company has a market capitalization of $119.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $24.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,498.29, for a total value of $97,952.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,101.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114 in the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is currently 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.