Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock: AIA Group Ltd Lowers Holdings

Key Points

• AIA Group cut its Booking Holdings stake by 30.9% in the third quarter, selling 14,354 shares; it retained 32,073 shares valued at about $5.2 million.
• Booking’s quarterly EPS of $4.66 beat estimates, and room nights grew 7%, but revenue declined 1.2% year over year. The company cited a roughly $900 million FTC-related impact and warned that travel-demand growth may moderate in the fourth quarter.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, though several recently lowered price targets. Insiders also sold shares, including two disclosed sales carried out under pre-arranged trading plans.

AIA Group Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,073 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 14,354 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Booking were worth $5,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Mill Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Mill Capital Management LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $24,087,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Van Diest Capital LLC raised its position in Booking by 30.1% during the first quarter. Van Diest Capital LLC now owns 281 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,185,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 2.5% in the third quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Adelphi Trust Co grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.7% in the third quarter. Adelphi Trust Co now owns 9,660 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 11.0% during the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 697 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,934,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $4.66 beat expectations. Room nights grew 7%, and gross bookings and adjusted revenue also increased, indicating underlying travel activity remained healthy. Booking Holdings Q3 Earnings Beat on Travel Growth, Revenues Miss
• Positive Sentiment: The stock’s recovery after an initial post-earnings decline indicates investors may have already priced in a weak report and are giving weight to the earnings beat and travel-volume growth. Booking Holdings earnings analysis: questions answered and next catalysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts lowered price targets after the results, but many maintained Buy, Outperform or Overweight ratings. This reflects reduced near-term expectations rather than a broad shift to bearish recommendations. These Analysts Slash Their Forecasts On Booking Holdings Following Q3 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Reported revenue missed estimates and fell year over year, partly due to an approximately $900 million revenue impact tied to FTC action. The company also cautioned that travel-demand growth is likely to moderate in Q4, with international demand pressured by geopolitical turmoil and higher airfares. Booking Holdings takes $900 million hit to quarterly revenue linked to FTC action

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,800,000. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,425 shares of company stock worth $16,004,164. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Argus increased their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Booking from $274.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $245.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.35.

Booking Stock Up 9.8%

Shares of BKNG opened at $170.97 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.28 and a 52-week high of $220.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.51. The company has a market capitalization of $128.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.17.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The business services provider reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.17. Booking had a net margin of 25.52% and a negative return on equity of 95.02%. The firm had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $99.50 earnings per share. Booking's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant-reservation company that connects consumers with travel providers through digital platforms and mobile applications. Its services include accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, restaurant reservations and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and Kayak-associated travel services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.