Blue Investment Partners LLC Invests $203,000 in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Blue Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 35 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Booking by 1.2% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. WNY Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total value of $79,379.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 732 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,729.36. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,162,642.46. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $5,433.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,121.23.

Booking Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,911.15 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $4,096.23 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5,339.38 and its 200 day moving average is $5,401.89.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

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.