Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 3,116 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH trimmed its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,116 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up about 0.5% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Booking were worth $300,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,936,132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at about $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 379,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,197,495,000 after purchasing an additional 24,030 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.9% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 377,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,183,690,000 after purchasing an additional 17,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 578,824.0% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,765,000 after buying an additional 289,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total transaction of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,631,984.10. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,190,323 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. HSBC raised their target price on Booking from $7,447.00 to $7,656.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Argus upped their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,225.56.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,027.00 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,188.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,347.54. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,096.23 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. Booking’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $83.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

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.