Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 38 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $138,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Booking by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 69 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in Booking by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the business’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 directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,981.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $135.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $3,715.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,608.85. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,605.00 and a 52-week high of $4,018.09.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $11.60 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,902.54.

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.