Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Reduces Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 995 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $27,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 352 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 110 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,264,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Trading Down 1.1 %

BKNG traded down $41.68 on Friday, hitting $3,731.35. 283,139 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 257,314. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,733.04 and a fifty-two week high of $4,144.32. The stock has a market cap of $126.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3,773.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,699.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $37.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.