Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 48 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 169 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 16,668.9% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 15,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,569,000 after purchasing an additional 15,002 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Booking by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,561,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Professional Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,510,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,133.75.

Insider Activity at Booking

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

Booking Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,377.78 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,015.02 and its 200-day moving average is $3,835.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,733.04 and a 12-month high of $4,395.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $37.62 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.05 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 24.50%.

Booking Company 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.