Truist Financial Corp Sells 2,414 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,972 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,414 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.08% of Booking worth $102,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Booking by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 127 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 102 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Solidarity Wealth LLC lifted its position in Booking by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC now owns 2,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,730,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,755,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Ascendiant Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.5 %

BKNG traded up $18.60 on Friday, hitting $3,521.08. The company had a trading volume of 146,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 193,606. The company has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 1.06 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,547.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,383.62.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $24.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.