Parthenon LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Parthenon LLC lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises about 1.8% of Parthenon LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $12,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $4,150.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,723.41.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking 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 value of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of BKNG traded down $62.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,452.03. 232,140 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 264,473. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,538.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,394.91. The company has a market cap of $117.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $24.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

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.