Mainsail Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Mainsail Asset Management LLC grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the quarter. Mainsail Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Mechanics Financial Corp purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,200.00 target price (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $5,405.91 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,394.85 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5,569.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,100.99.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.