UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 25,622 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 246,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25,622 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,318,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.7% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2.1% in the third quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of Booking by 3.4% in the third quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CGN Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $164.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $127.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $169.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.10. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $256.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.