Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by Truist Financial Corp

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 2.8%, now owning 31,312 shares valued at approximately $181.27 million.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares for nearly $5.59 million, resulting in a 4.11% decrease in his ownership stake in the company.
• Wall Street analysts have issued positive outlooks for Booking, with Barclays raising its target price to $6,000 and multiple analysts rating the stock as a Moderate Buy.

Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,312 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.10% of Booking worth $181,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter worth $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank raised 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 during the period. 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total transaction of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,237,930.44. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director directly owned 747 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,108,500. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,467,630 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,807.89.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,399.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $174.99 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.39. The stock's fifty day moving average is $5,541.46 and its 200-day moving average is $5,284.60. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,060.98 and a one year high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a 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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