Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Purchases New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 194 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $713,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Booking from $3,950.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,914.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.3 %

Booking stock traded up $12.57 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $3,990.05. The company had a trading volume of 159,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 251,056. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,820.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,648.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,040.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $11.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Booking Profile

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.