Banque Pictet & Cie SA Sells 1,341 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Banque Pictet & Cie SA reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 15.0%, selling 1,341 shares during the second quarter, which left them with 7,571 shares valued at approximately $43.83 million.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock for a total of over $5.5 million, representing a 3.95% decrease in his ownership.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Booking, with DA Davidson and Citigroup both setting new price objectives at $6,500, alongside an overall average target price of $5,808.81 from multiple ratings.

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 15.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,571 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,341 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA's holdings in Booking were worth $43,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in Booking by 100.0% during the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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 on Friday, August 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total value of $82,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 747 shares in the company, valued at $4,108,500. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,467,630. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,575.73 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5,556.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,255.83. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,060.98 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39.

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. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $41.90 EPS. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend 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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