Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Position Trimmed by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 27,428 shares during the period. Booking makes up 0.8% of Janus Henderson Group PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.99% of Booking worth $1,706,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Booking by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 8,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,788,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,692,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in Booking by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 2,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,459,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC increased its stake in Booking by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 34,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $184,047,000 after buying an additional 7,067 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $171.63 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.77. The company has a market cap of $132.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.