BNP Paribas Decreases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

BNP Paribas lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 251 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 1.1% of BNP Paribas’ holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Booking were worth $34,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the second quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 1.9% in the second quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Booking by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wedbush raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,149.23.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total value of $75,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 717 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,510. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,388 shares of company stock valued at $17,629,822. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,277.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $170.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5,066.25 and a 200-day moving average of $5,380.31.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $83.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

About Booking

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.