ING Groep NV Sells 3,312 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,312 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Booking were worth $80,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $165.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $128.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $233.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.09.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $246.00 to $220.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

Booking 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.