Praxis Investment Management Inc. Raises Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 890 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $4,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% in the 1st 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 period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,986,244,000 after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,958,352,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,388.37.

Booking Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $17.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5,304.03. The stock had a trading volume of 441,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,615. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $5,180.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,945.20. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,639.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a PE ratio of 33.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $20.39 earnings per share. Booking's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 23.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 27,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,073,911.22. This trade represents a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.