Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,112 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Booking comprises approximately 3.3% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $37,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Booking by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,394,283,000 after acquiring an additional 95,308 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after acquiring an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $440,967,000 after acquiring an additional 50,605 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,073,911.22. The trade was a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock traded down $58.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $5,730.73. 211,802 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,264. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,804.25. The firm has a market cap of $186.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5,301.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,956.47.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,388.37.

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.