Capital International Investors Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Capital International Investors lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 58.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 72,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100,779 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Booking were worth $386,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $165.84 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $169.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.