Ardmore Road Asset Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Ardmore Road Asset Management LP increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 200%, now owning 9,000 shares worth about $41.5 million, making it the firm’s 7th largest investment.
• Booking reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $55.40 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and experienced a revenue growth of 16% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60, with investors to receive it on September 30th, representing an annualized payout of $38.40.

Ardmore Road Asset Management LP grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 200.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 4.1% of Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's holdings in Booking were worth $41,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 1,411.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $516,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Booking by 182.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 127.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 81,785 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $406,342,000 after purchasing an additional 45,808 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Booking by 27.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 181,515 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $836,223,000 after purchasing an additional 39,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $77.40 on Wednesday, hitting $5,582.95. The company had a trading volume of 185,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,948. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,700.97 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $180.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5,617.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,189.19.

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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $41.90 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. 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 26.71%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. 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. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

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.