Exane Asset Management Has $5.32 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Exane Asset Management decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up 3.7% of Exane Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Exane Asset Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Trading Up 1.9 %

Booking stock opened at $3,802.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $3,772.05 and its 200-day moving average is $3,698.81. The company has a market capitalization of $127.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,733.04 and a 12 month high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $37.62 earnings per share. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.