Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Booking Holdings stake by 90.6% in the first quarter, leaving it with 995 shares worth about $4.19 million.
• Booking posted better-than-expected first-quarter results, earning $1.14 per share on revenue of $5.53 billion, with revenue up 16.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, and analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $227.14.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 90.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 995 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,556 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Booking were worth $4,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 28,353.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after buying an additional 203,580 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in Booking by 862.0% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Booking by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $182.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.08. The firm's 50-day moving average is $169.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.29. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays set a $210.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $175.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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