EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• EagleClaw Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Booking Holdings by 2.6%, now owning 2,454 shares valued at approximately $11.3 million, making it the firm's 16th largest holding.
• Analysts have raised target prices for Booking's shares, with upgrades from multiple firms including UBS, which increased its price objective to $6,300.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company recently announced a $9.60 quarterly dividend, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, and will be payable to shareholders on September 30th.

EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,454 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Booking comprises 1.8% of EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $11,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% during 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 during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1,411.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $516,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,780 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Booking by 182.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $482,081,000 after acquiring an additional 67,562 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% in 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 acquiring 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 fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $440,967,000 after acquiring an additional 50,605 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities lifted 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $6,000.00 price target (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety 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 Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of Booking stock traded down $117.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $5,386.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 199,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 184,546. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5,568.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $5,076.22. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $41.90 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

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.