Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,604 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $39,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,986,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $116.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $5,699.26. 64,267 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 262,085. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $5,397.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,980.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The company has a market cap of $185.45 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total value of $5,425,698.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,646 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,415.00.

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.