Swiss National Bank Trims Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank has reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 1.5%, now holding approximately 93,384 shares worth $430.2 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Booking, with Barclays increasing it to $6,000, and Citigroup setting a target of $6,500.
• Booking recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, payable on September 30th.

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,384 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Booking worth $430,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,054,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Booking by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Booking by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 513 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,363,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 price target (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock traded down $26.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5,405.91. 186,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 199,192. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $5,569.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,099.02. The stock has a market cap of $175.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,394.85 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during 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%. Booking's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $41.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking's 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.