Sienna Gestion Sells 17 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sienna Gestion reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 1.1% of Sienna Gestion’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the second quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark dropped their price target on Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,064.21.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,028.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,769.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,718.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,733.04 and a one year high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $37.62 EPS. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.25%.

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.