Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Booking were worth $563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Booking by 521,609.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after acquiring an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,614.61 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,639.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4,990.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,933.48. The firm has a market cap of $182.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Booking’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current 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 $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,377.33.

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.