Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 251 shares during the quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in Booking were worth $187,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Booking by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.6% during the first quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Mainsail Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.4% during the first quarter. Mainsail Asset Management LLC now owns 47 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 638 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,937,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 400 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,007.69, for a total value of $2,003,076.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,751 shares in the company, valued at $108,922,265.19. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total value of $75,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,510. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 3,452 shares of company stock valued at $17,987,397 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BKNG. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Booking from $5,443.00 to $5,523.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,141.52.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,911.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5,144.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,395.09. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

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.