New Century Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 12.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in Booking by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Booking by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Argus lifted their price target on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,902.54.

Booking Trading Up 0.0 %

Booking stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3,916.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 79,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 196,260. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3,783.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,634.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.90 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,624.50 and a 1 year high of $4,040.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. Booking’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,021 shares of company stock valued at $3,617,852. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.