127,290 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings cut its Booking Holdings stake by 28.4% in the third quarter, selling 127,290 shares; it retained 321,215 shares valued at about $51.5 million.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $222.35, though some firms lowered their targets and two analysts rated the stock a Strong Buy.
• Booking beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $4.66 and revenue of $9.79 billion; revenue was down 1.2% year over year. The company also announced a $0.42 quarterly dividend.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 28.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,215 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 127,290 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $51,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Booking by 2,674.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,026,348,000 after buying an additional 37,999,915 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Booking by 1,497.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,665,168,000 after acquiring an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $1,691,186,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $1,370,455,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total transaction of $610,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares in the company, valued at $14,935,432. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 57,425 shares of company stock worth $11,783,564 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Booking from $248.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Mizuho set a $205.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Melius Research set a $225.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. TD Cowen raised Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $247.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.35.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $159.26 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $146.28 and a one year high of $220.81. The company has a market cap of $118.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.68.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The business services provider reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.55 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 89.54% and a net margin of 25.52%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $99.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 18.12%.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc. is an online travel company that connects travelers with accommodations and other travel services. Through its digital platforms, customers can search for and book hotels, vacation rentals, flights, rental cars, attractions and other travel experiences. The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, Rentalcars.com and OpenTable. Its services span accommodation reservations, travel search and comparison, car rentals, and restaurant reservations.

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