Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 291 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5 shares during the quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 11 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Shipley& Co Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 41.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 17 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of BKNG traded down $8.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3,665.24. The company had a trading volume of 71,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,025. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,580.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,314.29. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $125.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. Booking’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $24.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,697.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,493.71, for a total transaction of $2,620,282.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,888,554.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,493.71, for a total transaction of $2,620,282.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,888 shares in the company, valued at $121,888,554.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% 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.