Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Holdings Lowered by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,097 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $345,000. Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co acquired a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $400,000. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $505,000. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $509,000. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Robert Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,800,000. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.06, for a total value of $244,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 70,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,479,424. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 57,425 shares of company stock valued at $11,783,564 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on Booking from $274.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $179.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.35.

Booking Trading Up 0.6%

BKNG stock opened at $160.21 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.28 and a 12-month high of $220.81. The stock has a market cap of $119.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average is $164.14 and its 200 day moving average is $175.46.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The business services provider reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.17. Booking had a negative return on equity of 89.54% and a net margin of 25.52%. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $99.50 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 18.12%.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc. is an online travel company that connects travelers with accommodations and other travel services. Through its digital platforms, customers can search for and book hotels, vacation rentals, flights, rental cars, attractions and other travel experiences. The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, Rentalcars.com and OpenTable. Its services span accommodation reservations, travel search and comparison, car rentals, and restaurant reservations.