Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by AMF Tjanstepension AB

AMF Tjanstepension AB decreased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 26.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,375 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Booking were worth $24,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,742,160,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,362,000 after purchasing an additional 15,381 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 275,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $976,096,000 after purchasing an additional 9,419 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in Booking by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 152,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $540,955,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 131,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $466,166,000 after purchasing an additional 29,316 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of BKNG traded down $47.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3,961.50. The stock had a trading volume of 321,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,729. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,624.50 and a fifty-two week high of $4,040.00. The company has a market cap of $134.41 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,759.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,623.63.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC upped their price objective on Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,902.54.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.