First Bancorp Inc ME Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

First Bancorp Inc ME lowered its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3 shares during the quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Booking were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 2,479.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after buying an additional 112,249 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $401,371,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,774,850,000. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $220,080,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Argus boosted their price target 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $3,950.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,902.54.

Booking Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $32.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $3,982.38. The stock had a trading volume of 164,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,315. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,726.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,614.06. The company has a market capitalization of $135.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,624.50 and a 1 year high of $4,033.00.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $11.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.