Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,305 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises about 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Booking were worth $35,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 400.0% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 100.0% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,873,729.36. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price objective (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush set a $6,000.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,121.23.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

BKNG stock opened at $4,940.00 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $159.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $4,096.23 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,311.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,412.28.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $83.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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 research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio 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.