Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Metropolis Capital Ltd

Metropolis Capital Ltd reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the period. Booking comprises approximately 7.4% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Metropolis Capital Ltd owned approximately 0.13% of Booking worth $235,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total value of $80,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,124. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total transaction of $3,091,696.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,759,275.30. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,149.23.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,441.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $5,113.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,370.05. The firm has a market cap of $175.40 billion, a PE ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $4,096.23 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. 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 currently 24.96%.

Booking 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.