Strs Ohio Has $54.65 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Booking were worth $54,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Booking by 1,411.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,780 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $695,259,000 after purchasing an additional 68,243 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 182.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 181,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $836,223,000 after purchasing an additional 39,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 19.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 213,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $983,707,000 after buying an additional 35,171 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,075.86 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,406.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5,386.27. The company has a market capitalization of $164.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 129.67% and a net margin of 19.37%.The business had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $83.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $9.60 dividend. 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 currently 24.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. Susquehanna increased their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush set a $6,000.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,132.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total value of $3,213,456.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 22,982 shares in the company, valued at $118,162,642.46. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Booking

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.