First Bancorp Inc ME Decreases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

First Bancorp Inc ME reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5 shares during the period. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Booking were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in Booking by 100.0% in the 2nd 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,070.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5,459.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,336.87. The company has a market cap of $164.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $4,096.23 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total transaction of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at $130,237,930.44. This represents a 4.11% 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 Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total transaction of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 target price (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, September 29th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $5,975.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.