First American Trust FSB Purchases 64 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• First American Trust FSB increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 3.9% during the first quarter, bringing its total shares to 1,689, valued at approximately $7,781,000.
• Analysts have been optimistic about Booking, with Barclays raising their target price from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and assigning an "overweight" rating.
• Booking Holdings recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60, with a dividend yield of 0.7%, to be paid on September 30th.

First American Trust FSB increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,689 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. First American Trust FSB's holdings in Booking were worth $7,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 valued at $10,887,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 1,411.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $516,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Booking by 182.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Booking by 18.8% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 127.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 81,785 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $406,342,000 after buying an additional 45,808 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $6,200.00 price target (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $42.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5,490.03. 92,754 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,553. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,592.28 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $177.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5,563.76 and a 200 day moving average of $5,110.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $41.90 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given 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 yield of 0.7%. Booking's payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

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.