Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 99.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,533,744 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,167,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $209,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Booking by 11.0% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 81 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 149.4% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 202 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors lifted its position in Booking by 14.3% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,750.00 price objective (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $6,000.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,139.21.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,583.10 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,096.23 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5,196.65 and its 200-day moving average is $5,401.69. The company has a market cap of $147.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. Booking’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $83.39 earnings per share. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total transaction of $5,588,639.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,237,930.44. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,452 shares of company stock valued at $17,987,397 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.