Howe & Rusling Inc. Purchases 7 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,193,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 203 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its position in shares of Booking by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the period. Certuity LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was 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 $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JMP Securities increased their price target 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. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $8.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $3,443.41. The stock had a trading volume of 168,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,162. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3,538.09 and a 200-day moving average of $3,394.91. The company has a market capitalization of $117.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,456.93 and a 12-month high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $24.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. 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.