Fayez Sarofim & Co Buys 6 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 247 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 181,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $836,223,000 after acquiring an additional 39,523 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in shares of Booking by 96.3% in the first quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors bought a new position in Booking in the first quarter worth $327,000. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its stake in Booking by 1.8% during the first quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 5,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,158,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital bought a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $1,377,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,200.00 price objective (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,432.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5,571.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,090.75. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,307.90 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis 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 presently 26.71%.

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.