L.M. Kohn & Company Cuts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

L.M. Kohn & Company lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 497 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total value of $5,425,698.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 27,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,073,911.22. This represents a 3.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,388.37.

Booking Stock Down 0.3%

Booking stock opened at $5,286.26 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,639.70. The firm has a market cap of $172.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $5,165.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,946.64.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during 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 was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $20.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.