Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $11.33 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 7.9%, owning 2,463 shares valued at approximately $11.33 million after selling 212 shares in the first quarter.
• Booking Holdings reported earnings per share of $24.81 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $17.57, with revenues reaching $4.76 billion.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Booking Holdings, with target prices ranging from $5,500 to $6,100, suggesting optimism about the stock's future performance.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,463 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Booking were worth $11,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Booking by 521,609.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1,411.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $516,900,000 after buying an additional 104,780 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 182.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $482,081,000 after buying an additional 67,562 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $440,967,000 after buying an additional 50,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Down 2.1%

BKNG traded down $117.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $5,386.29. 199,536 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,746. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a PE ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5,567.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,070.33.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 target price (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.