Rovida Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,500 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Rovida Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,447,000. Booking makes up 2.7% of Rovida Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WNY Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Gries Financial LLC raised its stake in Booking by 1.6% in the first quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 3.6% during the first quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at $7,570,000. The trade was a 11.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 quarter, insiders sold 3,437 shares of company stock valued at $18,460,963. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BKNG. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Gordon Haskett reduced their price target on Booking from $5,680.00 to $5,620.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 price target (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,121.23.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,050.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5,289.23 and a 200 day moving average of $5,414.69. The firm has a market cap of $162.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.83, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,096.23 and a one year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $83.39 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Booking Company 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.