Morningstar Investment Services LLC Sells 1,564 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG – Get Rating) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 62,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,564 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up 1.8% of Morningstar Investment Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Morningstar Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $131,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth $452,154,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,557.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 142,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,870,000 after purchasing an additional 138,279 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 98.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 176,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $357,161,000 after purchasing an additional 87,390 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 54.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 243,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $491,210,000 after purchasing an additional 86,009 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 619.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 78,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $129,682,000 after purchasing an additional 67,958 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Up 2.3 %

BKNG stock traded up $60.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $2,657.82. The stock had a trading volume of 147,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 316,483. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $1,616.85 and a one year high of $2,786.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2,624.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2,361.94. The company has a market capitalization of $98.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.33.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The business services provider reported $11.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.63 by $1.97. Booking had a net margin of 22.14% and a return on equity of 148.40%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 137.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $2,550.00 to $2,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $2,900.00 to $2,925.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $2,670.00 to $2,950.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $2,850.00 to $2,900.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,753.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 36 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,418.64, for a total value of $87,071.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,574,534.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,641.08, for a total value of $1,980,810.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,449 shares in the company, valued at $109,470,124.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 36 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,418.64, for a total transaction of $87,071.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 651 shares in the company, valued at $1,574,534.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,697 shares of company stock valued at $9,543,636. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

About Booking

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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.