Abel Hall LLC Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Abel Hall LLC made a new investment in Booking Holdings Inc. by acquiring 50 shares valued at approximately $291,000.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Booking, with DA Davidson and Susquehanna both setting new targets of $6,500, indicating a positive sentiment towards the stock.
• Booking Holdings announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, highlighting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Abel Hall LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 50 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. WNY Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Gries Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,854,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 238 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $6,000.00 price target (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,808.81.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total transaction of $82,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 747 shares in the company, valued at $4,108,500. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total value of $5,548,089.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,131.23 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5,503.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5,311.28. The firm has a market cap of $166.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $41.90 EPS. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Booking's payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

About Booking

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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