Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 56 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Booking Holdings by 2.9%, holding 1,851 shares valued at approximately $8.5 million as per its recent SEC filing.
• Booking Holdings' CEO, Glenn D. Fogel, sold 1,013 shares for about $5.77 million, leading to a 3.66% decrease in his ownership.
• Equities analysts have increased their price targets for Booking, with average estimates climbing to around $5,781.04, as the company reported strong earnings with an EPS of $55.40, exceeding expectations.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,851 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $8,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 278,063 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,381,534,000 after purchasing an additional 4,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 136,309 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $627,963,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,700.00 target price (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $117.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5,386.29. 199,536 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 194,527. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5,568.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,076.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a PE ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Company Profile

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.