Provident Investment Management Inc. Sells 197 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Provident Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 6.4% of Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $74,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Booking by 15.6% in the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Booking by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,284,000 after acquiring an additional 11,829 shares in the last quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,467,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Booking by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,262,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 67.3% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $174,893,000 after purchasing an additional 12,148 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 target price on Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. Wedbush upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,149.23.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total transaction of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,237,930.44. This trade represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,388 shares of company stock worth $17,629,822 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,301.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $170.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5,061.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,378.89. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,096.23 and a one year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $83.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

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.