Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 22.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,937 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $35,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,210,917,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 658,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 105,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,441,000 after acquiring an additional 105,428 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $536,675,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 79.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,259,000 after acquiring an additional 68,243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,406.99 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $5,080.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,372.85. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market cap of $174.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. B. Riley lifted their target price on Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Benchmark boosted their price target on 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, Barclays raised their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,149.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total transaction of $80,430.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,124. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total transaction of $3,091,696.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,759,275.30. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking 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.