Saturna Capital Corp Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Saturna Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 39 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,439,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Booking by 7.9% in the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 368 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,130,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. increased its position in shares of Booking by 707.0% during the second quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. now owns 2,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $144,000. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 738.6% during the 2nd quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 4,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total value of $5,588,639.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,237,930.44. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,452 shares of company stock valued at $17,987,397. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,690.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $151.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5,214.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,407.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $5,433.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seaport Global Securities increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 target price (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,139.21.

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.