Marco Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 59 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Marco Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 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 purchased 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the first quarter valued at about $401,371,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Booking by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 32,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $113,827,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Booking by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,234,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV raised its holdings in Booking by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 13,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,306,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,834.82 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,770.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,701.12. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,733.04 and a 12-month high of $4,144.32. The firm has a market cap of $128.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $37.62 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

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.