Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Qtron Investments LLC

Qtron Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 495 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,454.29 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,592.28 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,558.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,126.10. The company has a market capitalization of $176.77 billion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6,200.00 target price (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Profile

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.