Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 69 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $46,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $288,000. Linscomb Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 1,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,169,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at $54,000. Guardian Capital Advisors LP grew its position in Booking by 4.7% during the first quarter. Guardian Capital Advisors LP now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $992,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Booking by 15.7% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 3,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,365,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,494.00 to $3,497.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Booking from $3,700.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,056.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 999 shares of company stock valued at $3,939,187. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock traded up $41.11 on Friday, reaching $3,700.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 233,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,060. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3,887.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,686.47. The company has a market capitalization of $125.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $11.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

About Booking

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.