Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 521 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 74 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $2,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.2% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related 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 transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Booking from $4,692.00 to $5,411.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,453.15.

Booking Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $18.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5,702.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 147,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,110. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $5,501.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,021.32. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $185.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Booking's payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

About Booking

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.