Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY Decreases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY decreased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 98,894.3% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 17,736,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,895,257,000 after buying an additional 17,718,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,068,137,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 503.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 188,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $85,684,000 after acquiring an additional 157,518 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Booking by 3,557.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 142,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,870,000 after purchasing an additional 138,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $596,303,000 after purchasing an additional 112,831 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 250 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,124.72, for a total transaction of $781,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,327,020.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Susana D’emic sold 1,989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,039.28, for a total value of $6,045,127.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,080,599.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,124.72, for a total value of $781,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,945 shares in the company, valued at $12,327,020.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,989 shares of company stock valued at $15,303,166 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,325.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $3,300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 3rd. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $3,650.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Booking from $3,350.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,346.21.

Booking Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $3,157.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $110.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.16, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3,002.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $2,897.61. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,899.31 and a 1-year high of $3,251.71.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The business services provider reported $72.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $67.85 by $4.47. Booking had a return on equity of 840.22% and a net margin of 25.70%. The firm had revenue of $7.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $53.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 147.93 EPS for the current year.

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.