Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 37 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,411.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,900,000 after buying an additional 104,780 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,259,000 after buying an additional 68,243 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Booking by 182.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Booking by 27.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 181,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $836,223,000 after purchasing an additional 39,523 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 19.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 213,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $983,707,000 after purchasing an additional 35,171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total transaction of $357,575.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,486.45. This trade represents a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total transaction of $82,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,108,500. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,399.27 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5,541.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,284.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,060.98 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,807.89.

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.