Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Metropolis Capital Ltd

Metropolis Capital Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 39,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,177 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises approximately 5.8% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $166,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 57.8% in the third quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Booking by 82.4% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.1% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 1.3% in the third quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,009,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 7.9% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 436 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,377.78 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,395.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $4,015.02 and its 200-day moving average is $3,835.37. The company has a market capitalization of $146.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $37.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.05 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,133.75.

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.