Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 26.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 86 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Triglav Investments D.O.O. acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth $5,500,000. Accuvest Global Advisors boosted its stake in Booking by 123.9% during the second quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors now owns 159 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 6.3% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,221,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Booking by 0.8% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,375,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth $249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.0%

BKNG opened at $5,077.74 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5,381.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,399.18. 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 cap of $163.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $83.39 EPS. Booking’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. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Booking from $5,443.00 to $5,523.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Global Securities upped their price target on Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 price target (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,121.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total transaction of $79,379.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,873,729.36. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $5,588,639.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,237,930.44. This trade represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.