Insider Selling: Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) CEO Sells $40,434.90 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) CEO Glenn Fogel sold 10 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,043.49, for a total value of $40,434.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 19,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,989,577.15. The trade was a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,076.79 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $5,007.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,183.53. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,871.01 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $129.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.21.

Shares of Booking are going to split on the morning of Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.96 by $0.84. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $41.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 400.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 150.0% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $6,485.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,100.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Booking from $6,250.00 to $5,600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,971.64.

Booking News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat: BKNG reported Q4 revenue of $6.35B (+16% y/y) and EPS of $48.80, with room nights +9% and gross bookings +16% — strong operating metrics that underpin the stock’s upside. Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: 25-for-1 stock split: management announced a 25-to-1 split effective early April, which increases retail accessibility/liquidity and often supports demand from individual investors. MarketBeat BKNG page (split)
• Positive Sentiment: AI as a productivity lever: management highlighted generative-AI initiatives to improve personalization and conversion, which could be a medium-term margin tailwind if execution scales. Generative AI coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Forward tone: company gave constructive revenue growth guidance for the quarter (revenue growth range above some Street estimates), though currency-adjusted growth and margin cadence bear watching. Guidance & metrics comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: Documentation released: earnings transcript, slide deck and call replay are available for investors who want to dig into unit economics and regional trends. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: multiple firms trimmed targets (examples include Susquehanna, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others), which pressured sentiment and contributed to recent near-term weakness. Benzinga: price-target cuts / 52-week low
• Negative Sentiment: AI disintermediation fears & insider selling: investors remain concerned that big‑tech AI agents could bypass OTAs and that higher marketing spend may compress near-term margins; CEO share sales in February add a modest negative optics element. Deep dive on AI/marketing impact Read More.

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.