Capital International Sarl Cuts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Capital International Sarl lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 49.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,821 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,593 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in Booking were worth $31,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Booking by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 22,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $122,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $361,463,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,396,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its position in Booking by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 5,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longbow Finance SA grew its position in Booking by 121.9% during the 3rd quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 1,875 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $165.84 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $233.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.09. The stock has a market cap of $128.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,076 shares of company stock worth $16,417,121. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $256.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $216.28 to $187.92 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

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.