Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Takes $219,000 Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 47 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in 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 period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $440,967,000 after acquiring an additional 50,605 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Down 0.0%

BKNG traded down $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5,717.10. 150,915 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,704. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5,448.04 and a 200 day moving average of $4,998.76. The firm has a market cap of $186.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total transaction of $5,425,698.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,646 shares in the company, valued at $148,073,911.22. The trade was a 3.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,415.00.

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.