Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $99.85 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 97.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 551,523 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Booking were worth $99,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 110.8% during the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 118.9% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Finally, Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 90 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total value of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at $130,237,930.44. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,388 shares of company stock worth $17,629,822 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Seaport Global Securities upped their price target on Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,149.23.

Booking Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,301.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $170.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,096.23 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5,061.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,378.89.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $83.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

Booking 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.