Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 344,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,738 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,451,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 4.5%

Shares of BKNG opened at $182.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $169.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.71. The company has a market cap of $141.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.43 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. B. Riley Financial decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus set a $210.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.55.

About Booking

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.