EULAV Asset Management Boosts Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

EULAV Asset Management grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,752 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management's holdings in Booking were worth $12,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,394,283,000 after buying an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $440,967,000 after buying an additional 50,605 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total value of $5,425,698.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $148,073,911.22. The trade was a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JMP Securities increased their price target on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. B. Riley increased their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,415.00.

Booking Trading Up 0.9%

BKNG stock traded up $50.47 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $5,718.51. 169,232 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,660. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,425.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,990.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.08 billion, a PE ratio of 35.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 143.67% and a net margin of 22.58%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $20.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Booking's payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

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.