Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 684 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 684 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,881,000. Booking comprises approximately 1.2% of Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 31.2% in the first 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 period. Aspiriant LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth $87,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Booking from $3,950.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,183.75.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,338.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,029.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,838.71. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,733.04 and a fifty-two week high of $4,395.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $37.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.17 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 24.50%.

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.