Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 79.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,063 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Booking were worth $275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $361,463,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $51,396,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $210,352,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in Booking by 862.0% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after buying an additional 195,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,604,000 after acquiring an additional 11,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $184.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.84. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.