Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $39,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in Booking by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 18.6% during the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $437,284,000 after purchasing an additional 11,829 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 67.3% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,893,000 after purchasing an additional 12,148 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 339.0% in the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covey Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the second quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 4th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $6,100.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Monday, November 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,209.94.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570,000. This trade represents a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total value of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,631,984.10. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,190,323. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,098.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5,191.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,337.30.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 24.96%.

Booking 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.