First Heartland Consultants Inc. Purchases Shares of 51 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

First Heartland Consultants Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 51 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,718,390,000 after buying an additional 12,456 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Booking by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,865,949,000 after purchasing an additional 21,969 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Booking by 3.1% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the third quarter valued at $5,322,600,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 106,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $420,865,000 after purchasing an additional 13,908 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,205.00 to $5,155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $4,600.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $5,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,749.83.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,987.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,079.50 and a 1 year high of $5,069.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,287.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,959.25.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.75%.

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.