Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Raises Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 207.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 603 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $5,433.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Booking from $5,443.00 to $5,523.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,121.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total value of $79,379.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 732 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,729.36. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total transaction of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,940.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $159.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,311.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,407.51.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $83.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

Booking Profile

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.