Xponance Inc. Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Xponance Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $31,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Booking by 133.3% in the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Booking in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $3,590.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, June 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,064.21.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,064.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $137.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $3,772.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,729.29. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,733.04 and a fifty-two week high of $4,144.32.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. 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 0.86%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.