Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Lowers Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 28.4%, owning 1,895 shares valued at approximately $8.73 million after selling 752 shares in the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors have also increased their positions in Booking, contributing to institutional ownership comprising 92.42% of the company's stock.
• Booking plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share on September 30th, which represents an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 28.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,895 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 752 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Booking were worth $8,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised 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 valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP raised its position in shares of Booking by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. Benchmark restated 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $5,750.00 target price (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,461.54 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5,565.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $5,107.65. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,472.50 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $177.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 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 firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $41.90 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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