Morningstar Investment Management LLC Takes $573,000 Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 99 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the first quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total transaction of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,237,930.44. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,169 shares of company stock valued at $11,929,560. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,253.85 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $4,096.23 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5,488.05 and a 200-day moving average of $5,329.42.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6,200.00 price target (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 target price (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 price objective (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,808.81.

Booking Company 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.