Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 79.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,461 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $58,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in Booking by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total transaction of $79,379.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,873,729.36. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total transaction of $352,755.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 price target (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,132.29.

Booking Stock Down 0.9%

Booking stock opened at $5,075.86 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5,406.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,386.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41.

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 firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 129.67%. Booking’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

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.