Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Reduces Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,177 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 640 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.10% of Booking worth $156,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Booking by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after buying an additional 95,308 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $440,967,000 after buying an additional 50,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,692.00 to $5,411.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,454.26.

Booking Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Booking stock traded down $86.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5,650.00. The stock had a trading volume of 167,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,236. The stock's 50 day moving average is $5,531.93 and its 200 day moving average is $5,037.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.85 billion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $20.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.89%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Booking

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.