MUFG Securities EMEA plc Sells 1,999 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• MUFG Securities EMEA plc reduced its stock position in Booking Holdings Inc. by 76.9%, holding only 600 shares after selling off 1,999 shares in the first quarter, valued at approximately $2.76 million.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their holdings in Booking, including Vanguard Group, which raised its position by 1.0% and GAMMA Investing LLC, which saw its holdings boost by an extraordinary 521,609.7%.
• Booking Holdings recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with a total annual dividend yield of 0.7%, indicating a stable return for shareholders amidst fluctuating stock performance.

MUFG Securities EMEA plc cut its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 76.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 600 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,999 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc's holdings in Booking were worth $2,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1,411.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $516,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 182.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 127.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 81,785 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $406,342,000 after purchasing an additional 45,808 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company'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. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $6,200.00 price objective (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $97.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $5,461.54. 144,486 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 252,019. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $5,566.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,105.18. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,472.50 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market cap of $177.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 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.