Boston Partners Lowers Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Boston Partners reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,598 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Booking were worth $515,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the third quarter worth about $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Evercore set a $245.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus lifted their target price on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of BKNG opened at $164.94 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $169.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.10. The stock has a market cap of $127.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.08. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

About Booking

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.