PGGM Investments Sells 748 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

PGGM Investments reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 748 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Booking were worth $40,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Booking by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,539,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Booking by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council lifted its position in Booking by 382.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Ascendiant Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,700.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $18.60 on Friday, reaching $3,521.08. 146,026 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 193,606. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3,547.11 and a 200-day moving average of $3,383.62. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,456.93 and a twelve month high of $3,918.00. The company has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $24.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

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.