E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 348 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Booking by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,184,224,000 after buying an additional 5,040 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,336,362,000 after purchasing an additional 15,381 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Booking by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 131,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $466,166,000 after acquiring an additional 29,316 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after purchasing an additional 112,249 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,774,850,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,424 shares of company stock worth $18,673,145. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. B. Riley began coverage on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,876.96.

Booking Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of Booking stock traded up $120.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3,780.03. 436,272 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 272,135. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3,532.23 and a 200-day moving average of $3,420.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date 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.