Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, now owning 19,741 shares valued at approximately $114 million.
• Equities research analysts have set new price targets for Booking, with UBS Group and Citigroup raising their targets to $6,300 and $6,500 respectively, indicating strong buyer sentiment.
• Booking recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 26.71%.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,741 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 466 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.06% of Booking worth $114,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank raised its position in Booking by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, 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 sale, the director owned 747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,108,500. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 position. 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,509.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $178.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $4,060.98 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $5,561.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,246.14.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $41.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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