Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Position Cut by Fiduciary Management Inc. WI

Fiduciary Management Inc. WI cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,118 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 4.3% of Fiduciary Management Inc. WI’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI’s holdings in Booking were worth $391,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the period. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA increased its stake in Booking by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 110 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. 111 Capital increased its stake in Booking by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. 111 Capital now owns 595 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 2,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,868,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Booking by 620.0% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 36 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of BKNG opened at $165.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $169.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.09. The company has a market capitalization of $128.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $233.58.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 sold 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Company Profile

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.