Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 27 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.6% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,539,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council grew its position in Booking by 382.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.6 %

BKNG opened at $3,598.41 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,456.93 and a twelve month high of $3,918.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3,526.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,412.40. The stock has a market cap of $122.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $11.60 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $3,950.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,823.00.

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.