Forsta AP Fonden Sells 300 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden has reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 3.3%, now holding 8,700 shares worth approximately $40.08 million.
• Research analysts have increased their price targets for Booking, with DA Davidson and Susquehanna setting their targets at $6,500, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• Booking announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%, with the payout date set for September 30th.

Forsta AP Fonden cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,700 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Booking were worth $40,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,620,154,000 after acquiring an additional 30,054 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 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. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Booking by 6.6% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,365,170,000 after acquiring an additional 18,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $6,200.00 target price (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $6,700.00 target price (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG traded down $26.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5,405.91. 186,426 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 199,192. The stock has a market cap of $175.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50-day moving average is $5,569.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,099.02. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,394.85 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Booking Company Profile

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.