Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $10,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 1,411.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,780 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 79.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,259,000 after acquiring an additional 68,243 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Booking by 182.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,081,000 after acquiring an additional 67,562 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Booking by 27.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 181,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $836,223,000 after acquiring an additional 39,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 19.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 213,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $983,707,000 after acquiring an additional 35,171 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6,200.00 price target (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Down 0.5%

BKNG stock opened at $5,164.93 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,492.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,321.11. The stock has a market cap of $167.40 billion, a PE ratio of 35.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $41.90 EPS. Booking’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total value of $357,575.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,486.45. This represents a 24.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total transaction of $5,548,089.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.