SEB Asset Management AB Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $86,417,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 28,353.8% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after buying an additional 203,580 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 862.0% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush initiated coverage on Booking Holdings with an “outperform” rating and a $211 price target, implying meaningful upside from current levels and suggesting Wall Street still sees room for the stock to recover. Wedbush initiates coverage on Booking
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate for Booking to $10.39 from $10.42, a small reduction but still close to the consensus estimate of $10.43, so the change was not a major earnings shock.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent articles noted that Booking fell more than the broader market, indicating traders were selling the stock alongside a weaker tape and possibly taking profits after its strong run. Why Booking Holdings fell more than broader market

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wedbush started coverage on Booking in a research report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.29.

Booking Trading Down 1.6%

Booking stock opened at $181.68 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The stock has a market cap of $140.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $169.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.97.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.