Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Buys 95 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 51.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 280 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its holdings in Booking by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake 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 valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Booking by 0.7% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 601 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $15.04 on Thursday, reaching $3,502.48. 141,851 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 267,821. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3,555.99 and its 200-day moving average is $3,379.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $24.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the firm’s 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 value of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.