Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Reduces Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 23.2%, now owning 4,307 shares valued at $19,842,000.
• Booking's CEO, Glenn D. Fogel, recently sold 1,013 shares for approximately $5.77 million, resulting in a 3.66% decrease in his ownership stake.
• The company reported a quarterly profit of $55.40 EPS, beating expectations, and announced a dividend of $9.60 per share with a yield of 0.7%.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 23.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,307 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Booking were worth $19,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 102.5% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,447.92 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $5,563.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,110.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,557.64 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 price objective (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

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.

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