Candriam S.C.A. Sells 119 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Booking were worth $85,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Booking by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,437 shares of company stock worth $18,460,963. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wedbush set a $6,000.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,121.23.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,175.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5,281.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,413.02.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $83.39 earnings per share. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Booking 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.