Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 25 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $105,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $3.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4,284.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 125,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,739. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,885.93 and a 200-day moving average of $3,797.46. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,328.54.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 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 firm had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $37.62 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. B. Riley lowered their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,092.68.

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.