Natixis Advisors L.P. Cuts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Natixis Advisors L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Booking were worth $49,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after acquiring an additional 112,249 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,774,850,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Booking by 139.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 65,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $201,166,000 after acquiring an additional 37,994 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Booking by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $317,313,000 after buying an additional 30,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 161.5% during the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 39,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,937,000 after buying an additional 24,219 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Up 3.0 %

BKNG traded up $104.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $3,577.38. The stock had a trading volume of 534,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,734. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3,523.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,395.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 433.49% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday. Seaport Res Ptn restated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,205.00 price target (up previously from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,823.00.

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.