Eastern Bank Has $582,000 Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Eastern Bank raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 322.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,492 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Booking were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2,450.0% in the second quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 204 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the first quarter valued at $1,057,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 14.4% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 89,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $375,645,000 after purchasing an additional 11,235 shares during the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion purchased a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $62,069,000. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd purchased a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $7,406,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. Gordon Haskett raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.98.

Booking News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations: Adjusted earnings per share were $2.54 versus the $2.43–$2.45 consensus, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $7.35 billion, ahead of the $7.19 billion estimate. Room nights, gross bookings and EBITDA also surpassed expectations. Booking Holdings Q2 results top estimates as travel demand remains resilient
• Positive Sentiment: Travel demand remains resilient: Strong domestic and regional travel supported growth across the platform, helping ease concerns about weaker long-haul international demand and Middle East-related disruption. Investors viewed the performance as evidence that Booking’s business remains durable. Booking Holdings Stock Surges on Better-Than-Expected Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets: UBS increased its target to $274 and initiated a Buy rating; Benchmark raised its target to $250 and also rated the stock Buy; Wedbush lifted its target to $247 with an Outperform rating. BTIG reaffirmed Buy with a $250 target. These revisions reinforce the post-earnings bullish sentiment. Analyst target updates
• Positive Sentiment: AI and efficiency initiatives add longer-term potential: Management highlighted early benefits from AI-powered personalization, connected-trip development and higher savings, while Booking’s transaction infrastructure remains difficult for generative AI competitors to replicate. BKNG Q2 Earnings Call Centers on Resilience, AI and Savings
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target from $175 to $220 but maintained a Neutral rating, indicating more limited upside after the rally. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst update
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term risks remain: Booking guided third-quarter revenue to $9.4–$9.5 billion, below the roughly $9.7 billion consensus estimate. Management also cited Middle East-related volatility, while marketing expenses growing faster than revenue could pressure customer-acquisition costs and margins. Booking Holdings: The Buy Thesis Survives Q2

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% 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 have sold a total of 68,625 shares of company stock valued at $11,445,375 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $207.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $160.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $177.73 and a 200-day moving average of $176.76. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 120.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

Booking Profile

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.