Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Sells 174,056 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Central Pacific Bank Trust Division significantly reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 99.5%, ending with only 881 shares after selling 174,056 shares in the second quarter.
• Booking announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with an annual yield of 0.7%, payable on September 30th.
• Despite a recent 0.7% drop in share price, analysts maintain a mostly positive outlook, with a consensus price target of $5,808.81.

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 99.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 881 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 174,056 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 0.6% of Central Pacific Bank Trust Division's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division's holdings in Booking were worth $5,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $248,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its holdings in Booking by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 5,178 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,726,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $6,700.00 price target (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total value of $82,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 747 shares in the company, valued at $4,108,500. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Down 1.5%

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $84.82 on Tuesday, reaching $5,475.01. The company had a trading volume of 172,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,293. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,985.00 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The stock's 50 day moving average is $5,588.88 and its 200-day moving average is $5,221.64. The stock has a market cap of $177.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $41.90 earnings per share. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm 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 is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.