Trust Co. of Vermont Decreases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Trust Co. of Vermont decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,635 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Booking were worth $12,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,388.37.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded up $97.13 on Friday, reaching $5,693.13. 297,425 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,100. The company's 50-day moving average price is $5,252.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,953.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,717.34.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 143.67% and a net margin of 22.58%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $20.39 earnings per share. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total transaction of $5,425,698.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 27,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,073,911.22. This trade represents a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.