Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Booking by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,361,000 after buying an additional 6,819 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 30.0% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.7% in the first quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at $210,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $3,916.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,768.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,629.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,624.50 and a 52-week high of $4,040.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKNG. StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $3,950.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.