Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Cuts Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 376 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $31,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Booking by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 129 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 69 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,844.48.

Booking Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded up $7.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,605.41. The company had a trading volume of 266,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,239. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,528.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,418.38. The stock has a market cap of $122.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.