Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 65.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,572 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Booking were worth $17,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Booking by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the period. Finally, Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 732,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,920,535,000 after purchasing an additional 56,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $178.39 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $168.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.00. The company has a market cap of $138.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus set a $210.00 price target on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.26.

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.