Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Key Points

• Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 14.4% in the first quarter, reaching a valuation of $23.7 million.
• Significant upgrades from research analysts have raised the price target on Booking shares, with Citigroup increasing it to $6,500, impacting investor sentiment positively.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold shares worth approximately $5.5 million, representing a 3.95% decrease in his ownership stake.

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,150 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Booking were worth $23,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1,411.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $516,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 79.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $695,259,000 after purchasing an additional 68,243 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 182.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 127.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 81,785 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $406,342,000 after purchasing an additional 45,808 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $6,000.00 target price (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,486.45. This represents a 24.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,116 shares of company stock valued at $22,869,434. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,571.83 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,719.34 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5,608.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,206.63. The firm has a market cap of $180.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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 paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. 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.

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