64,584 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,489,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 64,584 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises 2.4% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,057,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd now owns 124,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Booking by 6.0% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 80,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,112,000 after purchasing an additional 4,563 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1,145.0% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management grew its stake in Booking by 16.1% in the third quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 4,938 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Booking by 116.1% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 35,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,734,000 after purchasing an additional 18,908 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $6.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $166.87. The company had a trading volume of 3,527,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,156,633. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $220.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.93 and a 200 day moving average of $177.59.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.42 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Benchmark increased their price objective on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter Millones, Jr. sold 50,050 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $17,182,274. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by 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

About Booking

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.