Linscomb Wealth Inc. Sells 54 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Linscomb Wealth Inc. has decreased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 4.7%, selling 54 shares, resulting in ownership of 1,103 shares valued at $5,083,000.
• Booking Holdings reported earnings per share (EPS) of $55.40 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a 16.0% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, payable on September 30th, representing a 0.7% dividend yield.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. cut its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,103 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $5,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. First American Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Booking by 3.9% in the first quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,781,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp raised its position in Booking by 1,600.0% during the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 17 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,149,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Booking by 0.6% during the first quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 4,859 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $22,385,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $401,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's 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 transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $6,000.00 price objective (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $5,750.00 price objective (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $7.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $5,477.62. The stock had a trading volume of 60,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,900. The company has a market capitalization of $177.53 billion, a PE ratio of 38.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. The company's 50-day moving average price is $5,562.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,115.58. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,592.28 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 the consensus estimate 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $41.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.