Clearstead Trust LLC Increases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Clearstead Trust LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 19,600.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in shares of Booking by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Booking by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 69 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in Booking by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 target price (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. Mizuho boosted 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,823.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,483 shares of company stock valued at $18,891,445. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $104.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $3,577.38. The stock had a trading volume of 534,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,734. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00. The firm has a market cap of $121.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $3,524.43 and its 200-day moving average is $3,399.84.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 433.49%. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.60 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Booking Company 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.