Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $39,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Booking by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Booking by 18.6% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,284,000 after purchasing an additional 11,829 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 67.3% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $174,893,000 after purchasing an additional 12,148 shares in the last quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 339.0% during the 3rd quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covey Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,467,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 1.0%

Booking stock opened at $5,098.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5,191.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,337.30. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $4,096.23 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $164.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $83.39 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total transaction of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,631,984.10. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total value of $77,867.25. Following the sale, the director directly owned 687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,566,320.05. The trade was a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,190,323 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. HSBC increased their price objective on Booking from $7,447.00 to $7,656.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,209.94.

About Booking

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.