Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. decreased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 417,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 27,439 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 3.4% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc. owned 0.06% of Booking worth $68,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth about $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Booking by 2,674.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,026,348,000 after purchasing an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Booking by 1,497.3% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,691,186,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,851,439.75. This trade represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.95.

Booking Trading Up 3.9%

BKNG stock traded up $6.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $166.99. 3,428,814 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,155,419. The stock has a market cap of $125.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $220.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.59.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

More Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Booking launched Vayo, an AI-powered personal travel agent now entering private beta, and plans to invest $100 million in the business. The platform is intended to organize travelers’ bookings, learn their preferences and provide ongoing trip support. Investors may view the initiative as a potential long-term growth opportunity and a way to strengthen Booking’s customer relationship. Booking Holdings Launches Vayo with Planned $100M Investment
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price targets remain well above the stock’s recent trading level, with one report citing an average target of $233.95. That gap may support investor interest, though price targets are estimates rather than guarantees. Booking Holdings Average Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking has attracted unusually high attention from Zacks users. The coverage largely discusses investor interest and what may lie ahead rather than reporting a new operating result, estimate revision or corporate action. Booking Holdings Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports note that approximately $10.1 billion in advance deposits primarily belongs to travel providers such as hotels. These customer-related funds can support working capital, but they also represent obligations and should not be treated as Booking’s revenue or cash available for unrestricted use. Booking Advance Deposits

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.