Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC decreased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 11.6% in Q1, owning 877 shares valued at approximately $4,042,000 after selling 115 shares during the period.
• Booking reported a Q2 EPS of $55.40, exceeding estimates, with revenue hitting $6.80 billion—a 16% increase year-over-year.
• Booking announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 to be paid on September 30th, with a projected annualized yield of 0.7%.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lowered its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 877 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $4,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $844,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $15,054,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 513 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,363,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. 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 report on Wednesday, June 4th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 price target (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,808.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total transaction of $357,575.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,486.45. The trade was a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,116 shares of company stock worth $22,869,434. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $39.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5,458.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 128,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,971. The business's 50-day moving average is $5,594.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,215.75. The company has a market capitalization of $176.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.96, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,894.51 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The firm 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%.Booking's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $41.90 earnings per share. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

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.