Everhart Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $401,371,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,699,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Booking by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 32,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $113,827,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in Booking by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,234,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $879,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 price objective (up previously from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,068.32.

Booking Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $62.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $3,830.58. 223,259 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 258,373. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,144.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $3,801.62 and its 200-day moving average is $3,692.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $37.62 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

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.