Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by West Branch Capital LLC

West Branch Capital LLC trimmed its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7 shares during the quarter. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth $401,371,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 4,565.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,143,000 after acquiring an additional 61,268 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 29.2% in the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $702,049,000 after acquiring an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 106.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,590,000 after acquiring an additional 36,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Booking by 2,315.8% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 36,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,755,000 after purchasing an additional 35,270 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,590.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,130.18.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $19.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $4,350.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 146,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 194,683. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,733.04 and a fifty-two week high of $4,394.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,980.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,822.64. The company has a market capitalization of $147.61 billion, a PE ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $37.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

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.