Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Booking by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 69 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its position in Booking by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,205.00 target price (up previously from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. B. Riley initiated coverage on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,902.54.

Booking Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,916.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3,768.17 and a 200-day moving average of $3,629.72. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,624.50 and a 52-week high of $4,040.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $11.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

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.