Wesleyan Assurance Society Has $24.50 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Wesleyan Assurance Society raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 22.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,326 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 1.8% of Wesleyan Assurance Society's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Wesleyan Assurance Society's holdings in Booking were worth $24,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,054,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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 last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $5,700.00 target price (up previously from $5,600.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,454.26.

Booking Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Booking stock traded down $85.62 on Thursday, reaching $5,650.70. 102,455 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 253,692. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5,531.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $5,037.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 143.67% and a net margin of 22.58%. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $20.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 23.89%.

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.