California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 5,083 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,083 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.20% of Booking worth $250,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $52.85 on Tuesday, reaching $3,515.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,243. The firm has a market cap of $120.14 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3,564.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,374.83. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

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.