First National Advisers LLC Sells 148 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 12.4%, now holding 1,044 shares valued at approximately $4.81 million.
• Booking reported a strong performance with $24.81 EPS, exceeding estimates and a revenue of $4.76 billion, marking a 7.9% year-over-year increase.
• Institutional investors now own 92.42% of Booking's stock, indicating high confidence among major stakeholders.

First National Advisers LLC trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,044 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 148 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 0.8% of First National Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. First National Advisers LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $4,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Booking during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $98.99 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $5,513.92. The company had a trading volume of 165,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,258. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,564.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,065.22. The firm has a market cap of $179.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 149.25% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $41.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,718.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was 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 directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking 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.