Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 227 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Booking were worth $16,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,718,390,000 after acquiring an additional 12,456 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,865,949,000 after purchasing an additional 21,969 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,742,160,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,336,085,000 after buying an additional 15,303 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in Booking by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after buying an additional 10,889 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $41.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3,731.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 283,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,314. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3,773.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,699.80. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,733.04 and a fifty-two week high of $4,144.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $37.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 target price for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,064.21.

Booking Company 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.