Nordea Investment Management AB Trims Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 220,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,759 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.0% of Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.68% of Booking worth $1,193,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 400.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 150.0% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings in Booking by 100.0% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Booking from $5,433.00 to $5,407.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Gordon Haskett increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,620.00 to $5,710.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,179.42.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,391.52 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5,164.68 and its 200 day moving average is $5,371.53. The stock has a market cap of $173.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.04, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.23. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,096.23 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $83.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total transaction of $75,450.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,510. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.