Clarius Group LLC Has $724,000 Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Clarius Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 9,333 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Booking by 6.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 379,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,197,495,000 after purchasing an additional 24,030 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised 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, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 578,824.0% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,675,765,000 after purchasing an additional 289,412 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related 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 value of $75,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 717 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,510. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 960 shares in the company, valued at $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,406.99 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $4,096.23 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5,080.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,372.85. The firm has a market capitalization 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $83.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Booking from $5,443.00 to $5,523.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $5,433.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,149.23.

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.