Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC decreased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 46 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up approximately 2.6% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $31,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $2,792,000. Abbrea Capital LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 194 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its holdings in Booking by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,644,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 280 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 336 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG traded down $15.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $3,502.48. 142,694 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 267,831. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,555.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,379.22. The firm has a market cap of $119.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $24.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BKNG. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Susquehanna increased their target price on Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Company 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.