Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 139 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 15.5% in Q1, owning a total of 1,036 shares valued at approximately $4.77 million.
• Analysts have varying perspectives on Booking, with some raising price targets significantly; for instance, JPMorgan Chase increased their target to $6,000 while Cantor Fitzgerald set it at $4,330.
• Booking recently reported EPS of $24.81, exceeding expectations, with quarterly revenue rising 7.9% year-over-year to $4.76 billion.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,036 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $4,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the first quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock traded down $57.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $5,555.85. 91,001 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 253,739. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5,564.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,065.22. The firm has a market cap of $180.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 149.25% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,718.07.

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.