Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 261.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 253 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC grew 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 worth $47,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.6% during the 3rd 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. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Booking by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 382.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.5 %

BKNG stock traded up $18.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $3,521.08. 146,026 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 193,606. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3,547.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,383.62.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.