Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Sells 14,195 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management nearly exited its Booking Holdings position in the fourth quarter, selling 14,195 shares and leaving it with just 44 shares worth about $236,000.
• Booking reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.14 versus the $1.08 estimate and revenue of $5.53 billion, up 16.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, while analysts overall maintain a Moderate Buy rating with a consensus price target of $227.14.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 99.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 14,195 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Booking were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newport Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $115,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Booking by 61.0% during the fourth quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 161 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. IFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,156,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 11,978 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $64,146,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $167.38 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $170.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.22. The stock has a market cap of $129.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business's revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking's payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company's businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.

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