Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Sage Mountain Advisors LLC

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 98.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,989 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 8.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council lifted its stake in Booking by 382.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $3,463.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,564.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,374.83. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,456.93 and a 12 month high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. Booking’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $24.74 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Seven 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company 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.