Smith Group Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Booking makes up approximately 3.4% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $51,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its position in Booking by 100.0% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total value of $79,379.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,873,729.36. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,093.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $5,438.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,353.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,200.00 target price (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,994.00.

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.