Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Metropolis Capital Ltd

Metropolis Capital Ltd decreased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the period. Booking makes up about 7.4% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $235,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,936,132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth approximately $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Booking by 6.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 379,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,197,495,000 after purchasing an additional 24,030 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Booking by 4.9% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 377,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,183,690,000 after acquiring an additional 17,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 578,824.0% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,765,000 after purchasing an additional 289,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total value of $3,213,456.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Gordon Haskett lifted their target price on Booking from $5,620.00 to $5,710.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,441.33 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5,113.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $5,370.05. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

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.