Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys 9,209 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 29%, owning 40,920 shares valued at approximately $188.5 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Insider activity includes CEO Glenn D. Fogel selling 1,013 shares for over $5.5 million, reducing his ownership by 3.95%.
• Booking Holdings received multiple target price upgrades from analysts, with Barclays raising it to $6,000 and Evercore ISI to $6,250, reflecting a positive outlook for the company's stock.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 29.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,920 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,209 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.13% of Booking worth $188,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,620,154,000 after buying an additional 30,054 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,706,063,000 after buying an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Booking by 6.6% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,365,170,000 after buying an additional 18,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,200 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,023,655,000 after acquiring an additional 8,015 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $6,000.00 target price (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 objective on Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $5,750.00 target price (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $36.31 on Thursday, reaching $5,651.99. 167,913 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 186,012. The firm has a market cap of $183.18 billion, a PE ratio of 39.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50 day moving average is $5,598.88 and its 200-day moving average is $5,170.82. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,700.97 and a one year high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders 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%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.