Montag A & Associates Inc. Acquires 178 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 30.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 768 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. 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. Argus boosted their target price on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,205.00 price objective (up previously from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Booking from $3,494.00 to $3,497.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,980.15.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $46.85 on Monday, reaching $4,073.28. The company had a trading volume of 52,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,012. The firm has a market cap of $138.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3,849.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,657.67. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,084.55.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $11.60 EPS. Booking’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Booking 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 completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 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. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.