Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's 3rd Largest Position

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd trimmed its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 39.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 182,003 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 117,588 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises approximately 8.3% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd owned approximately 0.52% of Booking worth $645,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,651 shares of company stock worth $19,485,975 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $4,400.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Edward Jones reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $3,876.96.

Booking Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $27.85 on Tuesday, reaching $3,772.85. 208,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 271,237. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3,550.25 and a 200-day moving average of $3,445.00. The firm has a market cap of $128.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $11.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

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.

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