Truist Financial Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Truist Financial Corp lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,972 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,414 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $102,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Booking by 8.8% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised 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 buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council raised its position in shares of Booking by 382.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded up $18.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $3,521.08. The company had a trading volume of 146,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 193,606. The company has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3,547.11 and a 200-day moving average of $3,383.62. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. Booking’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $24.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

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.