Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 898 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the first quarter worth about $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in shares of Booking by 100.0% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total value of $5,588,639.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,237,930.44. This trade represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,200.00 price target (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 price target (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,014.85.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,254.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5,427.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,378.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $4,096.23 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41.

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

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.