Principal Securities Inc. Buys Shares of 2,084 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,084 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,392,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Mizuho increased their price target on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $3,876.96.

Booking Trading Up 0.7 %

BKNG stock traded up $25.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3,805.75. The company had a trading volume of 282,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,761. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3,538.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,422.57. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The company has a market capitalization of $129.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $11.60 earnings per share. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,651 shares of company stock valued at $19,485,975 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

About Booking

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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