Parthenon LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Parthenon LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up approximately 1.8% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $13,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Booking by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,718,390,000 after buying an additional 12,456 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Booking by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,865,949,000 after buying an additional 21,969 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,742,160,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Booking by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,085,000 after buying an additional 15,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in Booking by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after buying an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given 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 target price of $4,064.21.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $3,870.70 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,767.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,703.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,733.04 and a 12 month high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $37.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

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.