Amundi Sells 4,256,159 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Amundi trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 95.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 216,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,256,159 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.67% of Booking worth $1,232,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,936,132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth about $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Booking by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 379,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,197,495,000 after buying an additional 24,030 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake 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 valued at $2,183,690,000 after purchasing an additional 17,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Booking by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,706,063,000 after buying an additional 1,699 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Booking in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 target price for the company. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,141.52.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total value of $5,588,639.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,237,930.44. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,452 shares of company stock valued at $17,987,397 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,027.20 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5,084.35 and a 200-day moving average of $5,383.29. The company has a market cap of $162.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.67, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $83.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Booking 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.