Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total value of $5,425,698.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 27,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,073,911.22. This trade represents a 3.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,388.37.

Booking Stock Up 2.8%

Booking stock opened at $5,482.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $178.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.11, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,639.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $5,213.02 and its 200 day moving average is $4,946.78.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 143.67% and a net margin of 22.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.89%.

Booking Company 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.