87 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Purchased by American Alpha Advisors LLC

Key Points

• American Alpha Advisors LLC invested $401,000 in Booking Holdings Inc., acquiring 87 shares of the company during the first quarter.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm, reducing his ownership to 26,633 shares valued at about $151.7 million.
• Booking's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting an EPS of $55.40 and revenue of $6.80 billion, which was up 16% year-over-year.

American Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 87 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Booking by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $15,054,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 513 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $5,750.00 price target (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock traded up $97.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $5,461.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 144,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,132. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,472.50 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $5,566.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,105.18.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $41.90 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.