Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,598 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,557 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.21% of Booking worth $320,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $5,700.00 price objective (up previously from $5,600.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,453.15.

Booking Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $17.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $5,658.13. The stock had a trading volume of 169,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,622. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5,479.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5,011.47. The company has a market cap of $184.12 billion, a PE ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $20.39 earnings per share. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.89%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking 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.