HS Management Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

HS Management Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 43.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,587 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises 4.1% of HS Management Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $31,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of Booking by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Booking by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,284,000 after buying an additional 11,829 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,893,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Covey Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 1.0% in the second quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Booking by 12.7% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,262,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 960 shares in the company, valued at $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total value of $3,213,456.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 22,982 shares in the company, valued at $118,162,642.46. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,445.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5,149.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,373.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business 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. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Gordon Haskett increased their price target on Booking from $5,620.00 to $5,710.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Bank of America raised Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,165.52.

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.