Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Holdings Decreased by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 44.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,518 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Booking were worth $45,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elgethun Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Booking by 2.1% in the third quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank grew its position in Booking by 3.4% during the third quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its stake in Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 1.6%

BKNG stock opened at $178.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $138.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.49.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This represents 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. Insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Argus set a $210.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Booking from $226.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.26.

Booking Company Profile

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.