Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 12.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 3.4% of Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $58,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 1,411.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Booking by 182.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Booking by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 127.3% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 81,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $406,342,000 after purchasing an additional 45,808 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,405.91 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,394.85 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.21 billion, a PE ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5,569.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,100.99.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $41.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Booking 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.