Macquarie Group Ltd. Sells 41,911 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Macquarie Group Ltd. reduced its Booking Holdings stake by 66.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 41,911 shares and leaving it with 21,499 shares worth about $115.1 million.
• Several other institutional investors adjusted their positions as well, and 92.42% of Booking’s stock is owned by institutions. Insider selling also picked up, including trades by director Vanessa Ames Wittman and VP Peter J. Millones.
• Booking reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $1.14 versus $1.08 expected and revenue of $5.53 billion, up 16.2% year over year. Analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $227.14.

Macquarie Group Ltd. cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 66.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,499 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 41,911 shares during the quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. owned 0.07% of Booking worth $115,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $361,463,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 22,669 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $122,396,000 after buying an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $51,396,000. Longbow Finance SA lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 121.9% during the 3rd quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 1,875 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,124,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $347,604,000 after buying an additional 11,042 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 97,076 shares of company stock worth $16,417,121 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $164.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $233.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $169.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.Booking's revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 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, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Booking from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Booking 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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