Kera Capital Partners Inc. Increases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 29.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 404 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,620,154,000 after purchasing an additional 30,054 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,887,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,706,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,365,170,000 after purchasing an additional 18,268 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,655,000 after purchasing an additional 8,015 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total transaction of $5,548,089.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total transaction of $357,575.04. Following the sale, the director owned 195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,486.45. The trade was a 24.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,116 shares of company stock worth $22,869,434. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,458.32 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,894.51 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $176.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.96, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $5,594.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,214.50.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $41.90 earnings per share. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 price objective (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Booking 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.