Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman Sells 15 Shares

Key Points

• Vanessa Ames Wittman, Director of Booking Holdings Inc., sold 15 shares at an average price of $5,500, totaling $82,500, reducing her ownership to 747 shares.
• The company's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, with reported EPS of $55.40 and revenue of $6.80 billion, marking a 16.0% year-over-year increase.
• Booking recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with a payout ratio of 26.71%, reflecting its ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total value of $82,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 747 shares in the company, valued at $4,108,500. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Booking Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of BKNG traded down $84.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $5,475.01. The company had a trading volume of 172,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 242,055. The firm has a market cap of $177.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.39. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $5,588.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,221.64. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,985.00 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,808.81.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 400.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter worth about $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings in Booking by 100.0% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

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.

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