Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Sells 127 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $14,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Booking by 2,479.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after buying an additional 112,249 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $3,774,850,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 139.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 65,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $201,166,000 after buying an additional 37,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Booking by 41.8% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $317,313,000 after purchasing an additional 30,015 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the 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 directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,651 shares of company stock valued at $19,485,975 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,795.35 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,456.93 and a 12 month high of $3,918.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3,604.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,499.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The business’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,876.96.

Booking Company 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.