Vestor Capital LLC Acquires 105,428 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Vestor Capital LLC raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 658,925.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 105,428 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 18.2% of Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $610,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in Booking by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $437,284,000 after acquiring an additional 11,829 shares in the last quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the second quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 12.7% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,262,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.7% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 9,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,624,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, November 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 target price (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $5,433.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,139.21.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,768.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $153.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.99, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4,096.23 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5,182.84 and a 200-day moving average of $5,400.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at $7,570,000. This trade represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,800,000. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,452 shares of company stock worth $17,987,397. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.