Mackenzie Financial Corp Sells 3,502 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 15.9%, owning approximately $85.52 million worth of stock after selling 3,502 shares.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings and price targets for Booking, with BTIG Research setting a new objective of $5,500.00 and UBS Group raising it to $6,300.00.
• Although Booking's CEO, Glenn D. Fogel, sold shares amounting to $5.77 million, insiders collectively own only 0.16% of the stock.

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,563 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,502 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.06% of Booking worth $85,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Booking by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 891 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,105,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Booking by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,812 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $95,879,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 368 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,878,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of BKNG traded down $162.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5,341.94. 84,683 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 253,888. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The company has a market cap of $173.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $5,567.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $41.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors 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 yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $6,700.00 target price (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

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.