Marathon Asset Management Ltd Sells 1,375 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 23.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,375 shares during the period. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $24,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Booking by 15.6% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Booking by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,284,000 after acquiring an additional 11,829 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 67.3% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,893,000 after buying an additional 12,148 shares in the last quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1.0% during the second quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,467,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Booking by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,262,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,440.14 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,107.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5,370.20. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $4,096.23 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market cap of $175.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $83.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $5,433.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 target price on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Mizuho set a $6,000.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total transaction of $3,091,696.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,759,275.30. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.