Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Position Raised by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,563 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Booking were worth $13,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,674.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,026,348,000 after acquiring an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,665,168,000 after acquiring an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at $1,691,186,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Citigroup reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, September 24th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Peter Millones, Jr. sold 50,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Booking launched Vayo, an AI-powered personal travel agent now entering private beta, and plans to invest $100 million in the business. The platform is intended to organize travelers’ bookings, learn their preferences and provide ongoing trip support. Investors may view the initiative as a potential long-term growth opportunity and a way to strengthen Booking’s customer relationship. Booking Holdings Launches Vayo with Planned $100M Investment
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price targets remain well above the stock’s recent trading level, with one report citing an average target of $233.95. That gap may support investor interest, though price targets are estimates rather than guarantees. Booking Holdings Average Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking has attracted unusually high attention from Zacks users. The coverage largely discusses investor interest and what may lie ahead rather than reporting a new operating result, estimate revision or corporate action. Booking Holdings Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports note that approximately $10.1 billion in advance deposits primarily belongs to travel providers such as hotels. These customer-related funds can support working capital, but they also represent obligations and should not be treated as Booking’s revenue or cash available for unrestricted use. Booking Advance Deposits

Booking Trading Up 3.8%

Booking stock traded up $6.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $166.87. The company had a trading volume of 3,468,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,155,419. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $220.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.