Boston Trust Walden Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,180 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $51,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 150.0% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in Booking by 100.0% during the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,441.33 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5,113.56 and its 200 day moving average is $5,370.05. The company has a market capitalization of $175.40 billion, a PE ratio of 35.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $83.39 EPS. The company’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 fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total transaction of $3,091,696.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,759,275.30. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. Wedbush upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price for the company in a 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 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Barclays increased their target price 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. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.