Gabelli Funds LLC Boosts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $13,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter valued at $401,371,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $24,841,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its position in shares of Booking by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 32,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $113,827,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Booking stock traded up $41.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $3,700.99. 233,994 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,060. The stock has a market cap of $125.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3,887.65 and its 200-day moving average is $3,686.47. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $11.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 189 shares in the company, valued at $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 999 shares of company stock worth $3,939,187. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 price target (up previously from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC increased their price objective on Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,056.31.

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.