POM Investment Strategies LLC Purchases New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Eight 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,068.32.

Booking Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Booking stock traded up $62.49 on Friday, hitting $3,830.58. The stock had a trading volume of 223,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 258,373. The stock has a market cap of $129.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,801.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,693.19. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $37.62 EPS. Booking’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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 given 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 currently 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.