Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 17 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 24.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $1,742,160,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $401,371,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,774,850,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,080,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 4,565.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 61,268 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 9.2 %

BKNG traded down $336.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $3,328.13. The company had a trading volume of 801,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 242,833. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,872.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,690.67. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,144.32. The stock has a market cap of $112.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 237.46% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $37.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,039.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% 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.