Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 9.1%, now owning approximately $155.25 million worth of stock after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts are generally positive on Booking, with 19 analysts rating it as a Buy, and a consensus target price increase to $5,781.04.
• Booking recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share to be paid on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,700 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.10% of Booking worth $155,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elequin Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Booking by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total transaction of $5,548,089.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 4,052 shares of company stock worth $22,511,858 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $80.06 on Friday, reaching $5,505.80. 202,400 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,659. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5,615.88 and a 200-day moving average of $5,198.14. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,700.97 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

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.