BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 2,118 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,118 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up approximately 1.0% of BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned 0.06% of Booking worth $89,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,620,154,000 after acquiring an additional 30,054 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Booking by 0.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,706,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Booking by 6.6% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,365,170,000 after purchasing an additional 18,268 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 3.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,655,000 after purchasing an additional 8,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 price target (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total value of $5,548,089.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 4,052 shares of company stock worth $22,511,858 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,532.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5,558.69 and a 200-day moving average of $5,131.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.47, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,610.44 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $41.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

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.