Leo Wealth LLC Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Leo Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 57.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 423 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,590.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,133.75.

Booking Trading Up 0.4 %

BKNG traded up $18.62 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $4,382.34. 56,786 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 245,729. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3,998.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,829.91. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,394.95. The firm has a market cap of $148.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $37.62 EPS. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.