Cumberland Partners Ltd Increases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 89.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $642,000. Trust Co of Kansas purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $3,608,000. 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 buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 87.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 76 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Ascendiant Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $18.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $3,515.29. 84,679 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 268,469. 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 $120.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,560.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,378.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $24.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

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.