Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Booking by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,184,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,040 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its position in Booking by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 149,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $462,290,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Booking by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 131,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $466,166,000 after purchasing an additional 29,316 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after buying an additional 112,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $3,774,850,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,560.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $15.04 on Thursday, reaching $3,502.48. 142,694 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 267,831. The company has a market capitalization of $119.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,456.93 and a 12 month high of $3,918.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,551.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,380.07.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

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.