GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New $642,000 Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 183 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $9.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $3,524.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 65,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 268,203. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3,560.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,378.24. The company has a market capitalization of $120.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,456.93 and a fifty-two week high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $24.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Booking in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

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.