Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Position Lessened by GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd

Key Points

• GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd cut its Booking Holdings stake by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 15,937 shares and leaving it with 59,346 shares valued at about $317.8 million.
• Booking reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.14 versus the $1.08 estimate and revenue of $5.53 billion, up 16.2% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $227.14.

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,346 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 15,937 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 8.5% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd owned approximately 0.18% of Booking worth $317,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 50.0% in the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 6 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the third quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 428 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.5% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 82 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.1% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 188 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elgethun Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.1% in the third quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 97 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $167.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $129.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $170.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.30. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. 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 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.