Benchstone Capital Management LP Purchases New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Benchstone Capital Management LP has acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc., purchasing 6,107 shares valued at approximately $28.13 million, making it the firm's 18th largest position.
• Booking reported earnings of $55.40 per share, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $6.80 billion, a 16.0% increase from last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, scheduled for payment on September 30th, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Benchstone Capital Management LP bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,107 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $28,134,000. Booking makes up about 3.0% of Benchstone Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Booking by 300.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 8 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were 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 directly owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Hsbc Global Res raised Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Down 1.2%

Booking stock traded down $68.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5,507.97. The company had a trading volume of 128,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,102. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,700.97 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market cap of $178.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.26, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5,619.62 and a 200-day moving average of $5,195.63.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $41.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

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.