Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 37.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,996 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $46,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,718,390,000 after purchasing an additional 12,456 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,865,949,000 after buying an additional 21,969 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,085,000 after buying an additional 15,303 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after buying an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 275,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $976,096,000 after buying an additional 9,419 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,042.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $135.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,144.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,768.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,716.69.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $37.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

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.