Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its stake in Booking Holdings by 6.5% in Q1, resulting in ownership of 750 shares valued at approximately $3.46 million.
• Booking Holdings reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $55.40, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenue also surpassing expectations at $6.80 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, which will be paid on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 0.68%.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 750 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 52 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $3,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1,411.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $516,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 182.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $440,967,000 after purchasing an additional 50,605 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $117.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5,386.29. 199,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 184,546. The stock has a market cap of $174.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's fifty day moving average is $5,568.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,074.51. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. Booking's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 price objective (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

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.