First Merchants Corp Trims Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

First Merchants Corp lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.2%

BKNG stock opened at $5,191.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5,496.93 and a 200 day moving average of $5,314.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.27 billion, a PE ratio of 36.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total transaction of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,237,930.44. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total transaction of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6,700.00 price objective (up previously from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,808.81.

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.