Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $24,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 102.5% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,591,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,447.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,563.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5,110.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,557.64 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $41.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten investment 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, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,781.04.

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.