Virtu Financial LLC Sells 935 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Virtu Financial LLC lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 58.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 654 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 935 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 45.2% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 151 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 231 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Booking by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 299 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,061,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC raised its position in Booking by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,042.43 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3,768.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,716.69. The firm has a market cap of $135.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32.

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 the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $37.62 EPS. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,064.21.

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.