Vanessa Ames Wittman Sells 375 Shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vanessa Ames Wittman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 28th, Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00.

Booking Trading Up 2.3%

BKNG stock opened at $213.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $160.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.12. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

More Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Booking’s KAYAK brand reported that international airfares for U.K. travelers in September and October are averaging 26% below peak-season levels. Cheaper “shoulder-season” travel could encourage additional bookings and support demand across Booking’s accommodation and travel platforms. KAYAK shoulder-season travel research
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain supportive. Booking’s latest quarterly revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $7.35 billion and earnings exceeded analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a broadly favorable view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $235.72, above recent trading levels. Booking growth-stock analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, or $1.68 annually, representing an approximately 0.8% yield. The payout signals ongoing shareholder returns but is modest and is unlikely to materially affect the stock’s near-term direction.
• Negative Sentiment: Booking Vice President Peter Millones sold 50,050 shares worth approximately $10.4 million, reducing his position by 11.77%. Director Vanessa Ames Wittman separately sold 375 shares for about $79,000. Both transactions were executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as bearish signals; Millones still retains roughly $77.9 million in BKNG stock. Booking insider share sales

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in Booking by 2,860.8% in the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% in the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,071 shares during the last quarter. Rit Capital Partners PLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2,643.0% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 527,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,008,000 after purchasing an additional 508,197 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.