Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 142 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Baird Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 142 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $31,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,936,132,000 after purchasing an additional 9,333 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 24,030 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 4.9% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,197.04 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5,077.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,382.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $83.39 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,007.69, for a total transaction of $2,003,076.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,751 shares in the company, valued at $108,922,265.19. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,452 shares of company stock worth $17,987,397. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Gordon Haskett decreased their target price on Booking from $5,680.00 to $5,620.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,146.23.

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.