Pure Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 47 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Booking by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Booking by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $440,967,000 after purchasing an additional 50,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity 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 value of $5,425,698.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 27,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,073,911.22. This trade represents a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,693.13 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $5,274.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,957.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,711.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $20.39 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Booking's payout ratio is 23.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,388.37.

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.

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