Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Lowers Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd cut its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 28.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 1,411.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $516,900,000 after buying an additional 104,780 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Booking by 182.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $482,081,000 after buying an additional 67,562 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Booking by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 127.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 81,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $406,342,000 after buying an additional 45,808 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,461.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,472.50 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5,565.94 and a 200 day moving average of $5,107.65.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $41.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

About Booking

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.