Pensioenfonds Rail & OV Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Pensioenfonds Rail & OV lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 36.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,418 shares during the period. Pensioenfonds Rail & OV’s holdings in Booking were worth $33,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 8.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $401,371,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,841,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.8 %

Booking stock traded down $32.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $3,982.38. The stock had a trading volume of 164,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,818. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3,726.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,614.06. The company has a market capitalization of $135.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,624.50 and a 52-week high of $4,033.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its 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 analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $11.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $3,950.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 target price (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,902.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the 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 transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,021 shares of company stock valued at $3,617,852 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.