Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 91.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,271 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,718,390,000 after purchasing an additional 12,456 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,865,949,000 after acquiring an additional 21,969 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,085,000 after acquiring an additional 15,303 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 275,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $976,096,000 after acquiring an additional 9,419 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,064.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $137.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,772.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,729.29. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,733.04 and a fifty-two week high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $37.62 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Wedbush upped their price target on Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,064.21.

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.