Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $1.73 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 478 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,859,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $225,000. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $417,000. Aspiriant LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Booking by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 265 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 target price for the company. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,902.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,009.40 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3,737.22 and its 200-day moving average is $3,616.64. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,624.50 and a fifty-two week high of $4,040.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. Booking’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

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.