New York Life Investment Management LLC Sells 147 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

New York Life Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $17,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 2,479.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,774,850,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Booking by 139.8% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 65,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $201,166,000 after purchasing an additional 37,994 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Booking by 41.8% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in Booking by 161.5% during the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 39,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,937,000 after purchasing an additional 24,219 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Down 1.1 %

BKNG opened at $3,415.64 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,456.93 and a 12-month high of $3,918.00. The company has a market cap of $116.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,531.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,395.06.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $24.74 earnings per share. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 29.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the transaction, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday. B. Riley started coverage on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

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.