Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by First Foundation Advisors

First Foundation Advisors trimmed its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Booking were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Booking by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 481 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in Booking by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 649 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in Booking by 3.5% during 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. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its position in Booking by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $621,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG traded up $36.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3,967.25. 160,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 189,349. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,882.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,673.84. The company has a market capitalization of $134.61 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,733.04 and a one year high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 999 shares of company stock worth $3,939,187 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Benchmark raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4,700.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,980.15.

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.