Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Grows Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Booking were worth $20,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 4.9% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in Booking by 10.9% in the first quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarendon Private LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Clarendon Private LLC now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 960 shares in the company, valued at $4,800,000. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 3,452 shares of company stock worth $17,987,397 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 price target (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,141.52.

Booking Stock Up 0.6%

BKNG opened at $4,906.24 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5,157.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,398.49. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The company has a market cap of $158.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The business had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $83.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

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.