Covestor Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Covestor Ltd cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Booking by 39.4% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,092,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 255 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,153,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Booking by 2.4% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,570,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Booking by 38.8% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 454 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,647,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wedbush upped their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,590.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,749.83.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,065.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $167.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4,240.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,937.66. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,076.54 and a 52-week high of $5,069.44.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.