Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 207.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 603 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd increased its position in Booking by 1.3% during the second quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 138,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $799,239,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 620.9% in the second quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,799,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $118,162,642.46. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total transaction of $79,379.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,873,729.36. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders 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 owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

BKNG stock opened at $4,940.00 on Friday. 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 market cap of $159.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,311.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,407.51.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $83.39 earnings per share. The firm’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. As a group, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho set a $6,000.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,121.23.

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.