KBC Group NV Has $124.31 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,106 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.09% of Booking worth $124,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in Booking by 55.9% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,921,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $537,000. BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $6,897,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth about $519,000. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its stake in Booking by 25.0% in the third quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,590.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,749.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.7 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,987.44 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4,287.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,959.25. The firm has a market cap of $165.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,079.50 and a 12 month high of $5,069.44.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

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.