Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC Acquires 197 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Booking comprises approximately 0.9% of Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $9,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,068,137,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Booking by 3,557.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 142,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,870,000 after buying an additional 138,279 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Booking by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $596,303,000 after buying an additional 112,831 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Booking by 2,479.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after buying an additional 112,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,919,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded down $15.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $3,414.82. The stock had a trading volume of 218,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,283. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3,571.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,366.94. The firm has a market cap of $116.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,456.93 and a one year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $24.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.