VeriStar Capital Management LP Sells 471 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• VeriStar Capital Management LP has cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 29.3%, now holding 1,137 shares valued at approximately $5.24 million.
• Major investors like GAMMA Investing LLC and Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased their positions in Booking, with GAMMA boosting its stake by over 521,000%.
• Booking recently reported earnings of $55.40 per share, exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 set to be paid on September 30th.

VeriStar Capital Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 29.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,137 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 471 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 9.6% of VeriStar Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. VeriStar Capital Management LP's holdings in Booking were worth $5,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Activest Wealth Management raised 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 period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $6,200.00 target price (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,808.81.

Booking Trading Down 1.4%

BKNG traded down $80.06 on Friday, hitting $5,505.80. 202,400 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,659. The firm has a market cap of $178.44 billion, a PE ratio of 38.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,700.97 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5,615.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5,198.75.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders 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.