Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Marathon Asset Management Ltd

Marathon Asset Management Ltd cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 9.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,373 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 1.6% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $58,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 5.7% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,264,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth $528,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Booking in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. B. Riley reduced their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,130.18.

Booking Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,370.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $148.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,733.04 and a 1-year high of $4,394.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,962.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,815.43.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $37.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About Booking

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.