Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 321 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 321 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,272,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $35.50 on Wednesday, reaching $3,738.00. The company had a trading volume of 261,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,116. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $3,803.95 and its 200 day moving average is $3,690.89. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $37.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,068.32.

Booking Company 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.