Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 22.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2,274.6% during the first quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,471,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1,593.8% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 271 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 141,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $653,532,000 after buying an additional 10,157 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 79.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,259,000 after acquiring an additional 68,243 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,604,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,505.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $178.44 billion, a PE ratio of 38.29, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5,615.88 and a 200 day moving average of $5,198.75. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,700.97 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total value of $5,548,089.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5,750.00 price target (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,808.81.

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.