Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 69,457 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $622,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Booking by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 28,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $155,490,000 after purchasing an additional 4,343 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 392 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Booking by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 8,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,939 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of Kansas raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,709,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its holdings in Booking by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 268 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna set a $260.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut their price target on Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $162.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $233.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.81.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.