Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises approximately 0.4% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Booking were worth $23,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. Rockingstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,682,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $6,200.00 target price (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 price target (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Three equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,808.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,237,930.44. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Down 3.3%

Booking stock opened at $5,242.00 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5,512.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,312.53. The company has a market cap of $169.89 billion, a PE ratio of 36.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 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 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 firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

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.