State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 30 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Booking were worth $14,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 2,479.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after buying an additional 112,249 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $401,371,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,774,850,000. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,080,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,916.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $132.90 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,624.50 and a fifty-two week high of $4,040.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,775.82 and a 200-day moving average of $3,632.80.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,205.00 price objective (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC increased their price objective on Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,902.54.

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.