CCM Investment Advisers LLC Sells 174 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

CCM Investment Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 2.1% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $21,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Booking by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,936,132,000 after buying an additional 9,333 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at about $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Booking by 6.8% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Booking by 4.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 578,824.0% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,765,000 after purchasing an additional 289,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total transaction of $75,450.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 717 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,510. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Gordon Haskett increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,620.00 to $5,710.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Wedbush raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Booking from $5,443.00 to $5,523.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued 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 an average price target of $6,149.23.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,394.36 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $173.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.06, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,077.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,375.28.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $83.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.