Invesco Ltd. Sells 12,388 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 392,717 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,388 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,103,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 28,353.8% in the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after purchasing an additional 203,580 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 862.0% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,890,000 after purchasing an additional 195,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $171.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $133.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $169.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.60. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Argus upped their price target on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Booking

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.