Simmons Bank Buys 47 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Simmons Bank grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 866 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Booking by 3.0% in the fourth 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 acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $24,841,000. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $879,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 price objective (up previously from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,844.48.

Booking Stock Up 0.2 %

Booking stock traded up $7.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $3,605.41. 266,281 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,239. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3,528.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,418.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.