Spire Wealth Management Purchases 105 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 437 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 30.9% in the second quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 161 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 9.4% during the second quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 0.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,644,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc increased its stake in Booking by 46.0% in the second quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 2,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,417,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $18.42 on Friday, reaching $3,909.23. 239,635 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 297,744. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3,791.96 and a 200 day moving average of $3,696.92. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,144.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.32, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. Booking’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $37.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus raised their price objective on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,068.32.

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.