Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd decreased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG traded down $9.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3,434.07. 97,399 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 273,224. The company has a market cap of $117.34 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3,586.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,364.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Company 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.