Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 949 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 0.4% during 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 increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.5% in 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 raised its position in shares of Booking by 4.2% during 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 lifted 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 acquiring an additional 10,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in Booking by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 275,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $976,096,000 after acquiring an additional 9,419 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,064.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Down 0.3 %

Booking stock opened at $4,017.51 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $3,771.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,720.94. The firm has a market cap of $134.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for 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 quarter last year, the company earned $37.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current 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 $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 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.