Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Buys 75 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up approximately 1.3% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 31.5% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 15.9% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 150.9% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,774,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 1,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 162.9% during the third quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 92 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.5 %

BKNG stock traded down $15.92 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $3,505.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 75,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,969. The stock has a market cap of $119.25 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,456.93 and a fifty-two week high of $3,918.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3,547.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,388.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

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.