Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 66.2% during Q1, holding 25,715 shares valued at approximately $115.76 million.
• Booking recently reported $55.40 earnings per share, exceeding estimates and showing a 16% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, to be paid on September 30th, with a 0.7% yield and a payout ratio of 26.71%.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 66.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,715 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,240 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.08% of Booking worth $115,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,274,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in Booking by 412.3% during the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 292 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,449,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,052 shares of company stock worth $22,511,858. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Bank of America raised their price target on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $6,000.00 price target (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Up 0.9%

Booking stock traded up $51.1150 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5,635.1950. 58,803 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,427. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5,560.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,134.80. The company has a market cap of $182.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,683.14 and a one year high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. 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 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.