Smith Salley Wealth Management Acquires New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Smith Salley Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 393 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,811,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was 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 owned 27,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,073,911.22. The trade was a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BTIG Research upgraded Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,388.37.

Booking Stock Up 0.4%

Booking stock traded up $20.73 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5,722.49. 131,123 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,858. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $5,343.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,966.95. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,799.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.21 billion, a PE ratio of 35.60, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $20.39 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Booking Company 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.