Insider Selling: Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) CEO Sells 750 Shares of Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,430.14 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,578.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,364.71.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $24.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Booking by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 64,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $151,044,000 after buying an additional 17,432 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter valued at $387,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,767,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.