Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4,075.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,981 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 1.0% of Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $51,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $178.39 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.00. The company has a market cap of $138.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus set a $210.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price target (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold 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 $227.26.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.