Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Buys 746 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 746 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Booking were worth $58,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 150.0% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 100.0% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total value of $3,213,456.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,162,642.46. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total transaction of $75,450.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 717 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,510. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,441.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5,113.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,370.05. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.