DE Burlo Group Inc. Decreases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• DE Burlo Group Inc. reduced its stake in Booking Holdings by 14.7% during the first quarter, now holding 3,070 shares valued at $14.14 million.
• Booking reported a quarterly earnings per share of $24.81, exceeding analysts' expectations of $17.57, along with a revenue of $4.76 billion.
• Despite the recent stake cut by DE Burlo, other institutional investors like Brighton Jones LLC and Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased their positions in the company during the fourth quarter.

DE Burlo Group Inc. reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,070 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Booking makes up approximately 2.1% of DE Burlo Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. DE Burlo Group Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $14,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in Booking by 64.1% during the 1st quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 38,965 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $179,706,000 after acquiring an additional 15,220 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its position in shares of Booking by 332.1% in the 1st quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 484 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,238,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. increased its position in shares of Booking by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. now owns 3,239 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,083,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised 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 during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $35.35 on Wednesday, reaching $5,626.12. 206,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 253,650. The company has a market cap of $183.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5,558.09 and a 200-day moving average of $5,061.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $41.90 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Booking from $5,800.00 to $5,650.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,718.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.