2,679 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Acquired by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,679 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,503,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Booking by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 64,317 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $151,044,000 after buying an additional 17,432 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 613 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter worth $387,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 2.0% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,585 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,767,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Booking by 7.5% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,752,005. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114 over the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Seaport Res Ptn restated a "buy" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Up 1.4 %

Booking stock traded up $51.74 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3,637.87. The stock had a trading volume of 174,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,363. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,456.93 and a fifty-two week high of $3,918.00. The company has a market cap of $124.31 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3,596.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,349.31.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $24.74 earnings per share. Booking's revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.67%.

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.