Insider Selling: Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) CEO Sells $3,091,696.63 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) CEO Glenn Fogel sold 571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total value of $3,091,696.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,010 shares in the company, valued at $113,759,275.30. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Booking Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of BKNG traded down $20.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $5,436.93. The company had a trading volume of 219,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 251,118. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5,061.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,377.90. The stock has a market cap of $175.23 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $83.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BKNG. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 target price on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price target on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,149.23.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keel Point LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.7% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,445,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its position in Booking by 133.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 1,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,491,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. AMS Capital Ltda purchased a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,881,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Booking by 7.4% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,674,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Booking by 233.8% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 217 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.