American Trust Sells 80 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

American Trust reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 54.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Booking were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Booking by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 43,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,277,000 after purchasing an additional 8,521 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $488,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Booking by 127.8% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 7,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,799,000 after purchasing an additional 4,144 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,466,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,577,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $336.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3,328.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 801,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 242,833. The stock has a market cap of $112.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,733.04 and a one year high of $4,144.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,872.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,690.67.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 237.46%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $37.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.9 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,039.73.

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.