BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• British Columbia Investment Management Corp reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 1.4% in Q1, holding 6,331 shares valued at approximately $29.17 million.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded ratings and price targets for Booking, with Barclays raising its target from $5,700 to $6,000 and UBS from $5,750 to $6,300.
• Booking announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 5, representing an annual yield of 0.7%.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp trimmed its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,331 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Booking were worth $29,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Haverford Trust Co boosted its stake in Booking by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 185 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in Booking by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 9,180 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $43,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,578 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 368 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp boosted its position in Booking by 15.9% during the first quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 1,152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,307,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 15.6% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 831 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,828,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total value of $5,548,089.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $36.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $5,651.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 158,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,494. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,700.97 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $5,598.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,170.82. The stock has a market cap of $183.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.31, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BKNG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

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.