Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $672,000 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 company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $35,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in Booking by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total transaction of $82,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,108,500. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,467,630 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated 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. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,457.13 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,030.69 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $176.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5,564.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,244.30.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $41.90 EPS. Booking’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

About Booking

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.