Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Aureus Asset Management LLC

Aureus Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 85.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 512 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,112 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 50.0% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth about $179,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. B. Riley Financial cut their target price on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.05.

Booking Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $177.86 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $171.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.43. The company has a market capitalization of $137.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors 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 payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.