Portside Wealth Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 24.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 400.0% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $35,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Gordon Haskett lowered their price target on Booking from $5,680.00 to $5,620.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 target price (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,139.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,424 shares of company stock valued at $12,912,874 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,783.01 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,230.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,412.46.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $83.39 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

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.