Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is River Global Investors LLP’s 7th Largest Position

River Global Investors LLP lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 640 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 1.7% of River Global Investors LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $104.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $3,577.38. 534,715 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 200,734. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,524.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,399.84. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 433.49% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,823.00.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,483 shares of company stock valued at $18,891,445 in the last three months. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.