Cortland Associates Inc. MO Sells 4,579 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Cortland Associates Inc. MO lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 31.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,579 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 6.9% of Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings in Booking were worth $59,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.2% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.7% during the first quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the first quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing 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 first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price objective (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6,200.00 price target (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on 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, Mizuho began coverage on Booking in a research note on Monday, September 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $5,975.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total transaction of $82,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,108,500. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,045.80. This trade represents a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,467,630 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,242.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $169.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $5,512.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,312.53.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

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.