Ninety One UK Ltd Lowers Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 342,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 528 shares during the period. Booking comprises approximately 3.6% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,214,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its holdings in Booking by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Booking by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in Booking by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Booking by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 601 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 170 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $3,443.85. 70,883 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 272,858. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.68 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3,586.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,364.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,456.93 and a one year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $24.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

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.