Ellis Investment Partners LLC Sells 2 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Ellis Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 341 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2 shares during the quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings in Booking by 100.0% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,164.93 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $167.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.92, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $4,096.23 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5,492.50 and its 200 day moving average is $5,325.09.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The company 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%.Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $41.90 earnings per share. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total transaction of $357,575.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,486.45. The trade was a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,467,630 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,700.00 target price (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,418.00 to $5,443.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.