Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,037 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 0.4% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.23% of Booking worth $397,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $361,463,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 7.2% in the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 22,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $51,396,000. Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in Booking by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,604,000 after acquiring an additional 11,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 56,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $300,364,000 after acquiring an additional 15,053 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $175.00 price target (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $175.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $233.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $169.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.94.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.