Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $28,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,210,917,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 578,824.0% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,765,000 after acquiring an additional 289,412 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 658,925.0% during the second quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 105,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,441,000 after acquiring an additional 105,428 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $536,675,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth about $468,252,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Gordon Haskett upgraded BKNG from “hold” to “buy” and set a $5,440 price target (~26% above recent levels), giving a clear analyst-driven upside catalyst. Gordon Haskett Upgrades Booking
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights that Booking has the key attributes that could produce an earnings beat and labels BKNG a top-ranked growth stock — supportive near-term analyst sentiment ahead of results. Booking Holdings (BKNG) Earnings Expected to Grow
• Positive Sentiment: Booking.com named official travel partner for the Route 66 centennial — a marketing/partnership win that may boost brand visibility and road‑trip bookings as demand for flexible travel grows. Booking.com Named Official Travel Partner
• Neutral Sentiment: KAYAK (part of Booking Holdings) released a Valentine’s travel trend piece (Liverpool top UK pick) — positive for consumer engagement but low immediate material impact on earnings. Liverpool is this year’s #1 Valentine’s destination for KAYAK
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple news items note BKNG is attracting investor attention and is projected to post earnings this week — these reminders raise focus/volatility but are informational rather than directional on their own. Booking Projected to Post Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Seeking Alpha flagged a challenging Q4/start to 2026 and argued the market may be overreacting — this analysis can amplify downside pressure ahead of results if investors fear a miss. Booking Holdings Q4 Earnings: A Challenging Start
• Negative Sentiment: Press pieces and chart-focused outlets reported a recent sharp decline and “head & shoulders” technical pattern, framing a “crash” narrative that can trigger momentum selling and retail fear. Booking stock crashes as a H&S pattern forms
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in the feeds is garbled (zeros/NaN) and does not provide a reliable signal; treat reported short‑interest headlines with caution until clarified by official filings.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. HSBC upped their price target on Booking from $7,447.00 to $7,656.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,920.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 4th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,171.56.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total value of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares in the company, valued at $101,631,984.10. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total transaction of $77,867.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,566,320.05. This trade represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,124 shares of company stock valued at $16,194,538 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,312.44 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $5,157.98 and its 200 day moving average is $5,249.94. The stock has a market cap of $138.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $4,096.23 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.