Claro Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 25.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. 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 report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,205.00 price objective (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Nine 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,902.54.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,021 shares of company stock valued at $3,617,852. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $3,884.88 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,624.50 and a 1-year high of $4,040.00. The stock has a market cap of $131.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,759.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,626.59.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.