Korea Investment CORP Decreases Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Korea Investment CORP lowered its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,378 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.10% of Booking worth $188,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 7.7% during the second quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,452,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Booking by 36.2% during the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 723 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,186,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,297,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 17,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Global Securities increased their price target on Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,443.00 to $5,523.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,141.52.

Booking Stock Up 0.1%

BKNG opened at $4,911.85 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $5,144.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,395.09. The company has a market capitalization of $158.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $83.39 EPS. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 400 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,007.69, for a total transaction of $2,003,076.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,922,265.19. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,452 shares of company stock worth $17,987,397. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.