Hilltop National Bank Purchases New Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 105 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings 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 valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in Booking by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Booking by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 69 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.3% during the first quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 894 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,205.00 price objective (up previously from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4,700.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,980.15.

Booking Stock Up 2.3 %

BKNG traded up $90.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4,026.43. 197,592 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 179,935. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,733.04 and a one year high of $4,051.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,849.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,656.19.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $11.60 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, 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 a total of 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.