VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 12,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $74,398,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,620,154,000 after buying an additional 30,054 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,706,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,365,170,000 after purchasing an additional 18,268 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Booking by 9.5% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 226,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,297,331,000 after purchasing an additional 19,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 3.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,023,655,000 after purchasing an additional 8,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,418.00 to $5,443.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,750.00 price target (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,070.02 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $164.32 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,459.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,336.87.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted 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. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $41.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were 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 was Friday, September 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total value of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,237,930.44. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total value of $79,379.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,873,729.36. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.