Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by ASB Consultores LLC

ASB Consultores LLC reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 28.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23 shares during the quarter. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the second 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 acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $3,050,737.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,064.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,772.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,725.13. The stock has a market cap of $136.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,733.04 and a 1-year high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results 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. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $37.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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