Wealth Alliance LLC Purchases Shares of 46 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 46 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded down $12.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5,637.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 90,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,079. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5,540.17 and a 200-day moving average of $5,042.92. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $183.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 143.67% and a net margin of 22.58%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $20.39 EPS. Booking's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Booking's payout ratio is 23.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Booking from $4,692.00 to $5,411.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,454.26.

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.