Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Sold by Formuepleje A S

Formuepleje A S reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 50.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,245 shares during the period. Formuepleje A S’s holdings in Booking were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Booking by 2,674.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,026,348,000 after buying an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,691,186,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Booking launched Vayo, an AI-powered personal travel agent now entering private beta, and plans to invest $100 million in the business. The platform is intended to organize travelers’ bookings, learn their preferences and provide ongoing trip support. Investors may view the initiative as a potential long-term growth opportunity and a way to strengthen Booking’s customer relationship. Booking Holdings Launches Vayo with Planned $100M Investment
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price targets remain well above the stock’s recent trading level, with one report citing an average target of $233.95. That gap may support investor interest, though price targets are estimates rather than guarantees. Booking Holdings Average Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking has attracted unusually high attention from Zacks users. The coverage largely discusses investor interest and what may lie ahead rather than reporting a new operating result, estimate revision or corporate action. Booking Holdings Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports note that approximately $10.1 billion in advance deposits primarily belongs to travel providers such as hotels. These customer-related funds can support working capital, but they also represent obligations and should not be treated as Booking’s revenue or cash available for unrestricted use. Booking Advance Deposits

Booking Stock Up 4.0%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $6.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $167.04. 3,428,814 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,155,419. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $183.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.59. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $220.81. The firm has a market cap of $125.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 24th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. The trade was a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total value of $610,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 73,400 shares in the company, valued at $14,935,432. The trade was a 3.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.