Suncoast Equity Management Has $39.25 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Suncoast Equity Management lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 5.2% of Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $39,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Mizuho increased their price target on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,689 shares of company stock worth $16,086,423 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $14.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $3,470.70. The stock had a trading volume of 99,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,355. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,595.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,360.99. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,456.93 and a fifty-two week high of $3,918.00. The firm has a market cap of $118.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $24.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

About Booking

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.