Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 142 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 142 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $31,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $2,210,917,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 578,824.0% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,675,765,000 after acquiring an additional 289,412 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC grew its position in Booking by 658,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 105,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,441,000 after acquiring an additional 105,428 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $536,675,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 79.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,259,000 after purchasing an additional 68,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,197.04 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,096.23 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5,077.33 and its 200-day moving average is $5,382.03. The company has a market capitalization of $167.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $83.39 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total transaction of $75,450.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 717 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,510. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,452 shares of company stock valued at $17,987,397. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Benchmark boosted their price target on Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Seaport Global Securities lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,146.23.

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.