Family Firm Inc. Makes New $115,000 Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 29 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $115,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BKNG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Eight 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,068.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $62.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3,830.58. 223,343 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 258,373. The company has a market cap of $129.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,733.04 and a 12-month high of $4,144.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3,801.62 and a 200 day moving average of $3,692.86.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $37.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given 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 0.91%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

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.