Sanders Capital LLC Sells 9,088 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Sanders Capital LLC cut its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 274,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,088 shares during the period. Booking comprises 2.1% of Sanders Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,586,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. WNY Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1.6% in the first quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, MGB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 3.6% during the first quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total value of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,237,930.44. This trade represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,424 shares of company stock valued at $12,912,874 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,121.23.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,048.01 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5,261.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,415.29. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market cap of $162.72 billion, a PE ratio of 32.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $83.39 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue 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 predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

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.