Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 241 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up approximately 1.3% of Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Booking by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Booking by 0.4% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,426.52 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,090.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,371.99. 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 $174.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25.

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 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $83.39 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Benchmark upped 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 report on Wednesday, October 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Seaport Global Securities raised their price target on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” 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 given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,149.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director directly owned 717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,510. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.