Greenleaf Trust Lowers Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Greenleaf Trust decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 42.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,074 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,266 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust's holdings in Booking were worth $14,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after buying an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 18.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Booking by 132.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total transaction of $5,425,698.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock traded up $27.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5,695.08. The company had a trading volume of 84,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,335. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $5,425.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,990.14. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.32 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BTIG Research upgraded Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,692.00 to $5,411.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,415.00.

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.