Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 75.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 178,452 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $344,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in Booking by 100.0% during the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Seaport Global Securities raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,149.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total transaction of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at $130,237,930.44. This trade represents a 4.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,388 shares of company stock valued at $17,629,822 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,277.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $170.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5,066.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,380.31. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $83.39 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 24.96%.

About Booking

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.