Main Street Research LLC Has $26.06 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Main Street Research LLC raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Booking comprises 2.1% of Main Street Research LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $26,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 8.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 0.6% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $24,841,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council increased its holdings in Booking by 382.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BKNG traded down $10.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $3,475.00. 125,821 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 275,641. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The company has a market cap of $118.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,595.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,360.99.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,498.29, for a total transaction of $97,952.12. Following the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,101.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,689 shares of company stock worth $16,086,423 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Ascendiant Capital Markets increased their price target on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

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.