First Foundation Advisors Has $4.80 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• First Foundation Advisors raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 9.0%, holding shares valued at approximately $4.80 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Brokerages have set new target prices for Booking, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. increasing its target from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00, reflecting strong anticipated performance.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares for over $5.7 million, but still retains a significant ownership stake valued at approximately $151.67 million.

First Foundation Advisors increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,041 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in Booking were worth $4,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Booking by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,380,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Booking by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 2,513 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,486,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BKNG. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,481.78.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,678.75 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $5,552.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,057.72. The company has a market cap of $184.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $20.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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