Wesleyan Assurance Society Lowers Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Wesleyan Assurance Society cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 2.0% of Wesleyan Assurance Society’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Wesleyan Assurance Society’s holdings in Booking were worth $30,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Booking by 1.2% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 3.7% in the first quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1.6% in the first quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 238 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,146.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 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. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5,432.78 and its 200 day moving average is $5,374.01.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,162,642.46. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 price objective (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,010.41.

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.