Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises about 0.6% of Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,092.68.

Booking Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,284.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,733.04 and a 12-month high of $4,328.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3,885.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,798.34.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $37.62 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.