Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 32.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,307 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,469 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.05% of Booking worth $79,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,388.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total value of $5,425,698.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,646 shares in the company, valued at $148,073,911.22. The trade was a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $20.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5,722.49. 131,159 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,532. The firm has a market cap of $186.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.40. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $5,343.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,966.95. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,799.01.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

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.