Liberty Wealth Management LLC Takes $106.17 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Liberty Wealth Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. worth approximately $106.17 million, making it the firm's 10th largest position, which constitutes 1.9% of their total holdings.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Booking, with price targets recently raised by several firms, resulting in an average target price of $5,781.04 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Booking Holdings announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $38.40, with a yield of 0.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 26.71%.

Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,045 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $106,166,000. Booking makes up 1.9% of Liberty Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Liberty Wealth Management LLC owned 0.07% of Booking at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $15,054,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 210 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade 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 link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,386.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5,568.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,076.22. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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