Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Holdings Raised by MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Booking were worth $31,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 8.8% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council grew its holdings in Booking by 382.4% during the fourth 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 period. NatWest Group plc grew its holdings in Booking by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 3,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,114,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 11,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,917,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their price target on Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,697.38.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded down $45.62 on Friday, hitting $3,627.88. The company had a trading volume of 274,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,302. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $3,586.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,318.97. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $123.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $24.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.46 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,493.71, for a total value of $2,620,282.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,888,554.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,493.71, for a total value of $2,620,282.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,888 shares in the company, valued at $121,888,554.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.