Hancock Whitney Corp Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Hancock Whitney Corp lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 368 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd raised its holdings in Booking by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Booking by 0.5% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. B. Riley dropped their price target on Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus raised their price objective on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,064.01 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,772.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,729.29. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,144.32. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $37.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking 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 in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking 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.