Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Raises Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 10,375.4% in Q2, now owning 6,809 shares valued at approximately $39.4 million.
• Booking reported Q2 earnings of $55.40 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue rising 16% year-over-year to $6.80 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, set for payment on September 30th.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 10,375.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,809 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,744 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Booking were worth $39,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth $29,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the first quarter valued at $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Booking by 300.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 8 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $6,700.00 price objective (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,808.81.

Booking Trading Up 0.1%

Booking stock traded up $7.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $5,464.61. The stock had a trading volume of 99,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 241,855. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's 50 day moving average is $5,564.68 and its 200 day moving average is $5,244.30. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total value of $357,575.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,089,486.45. This trade represents a 24.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,467,630. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.