Calamos Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Calamos Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (~99.9%) during Q2, lowering shares from 318,917 to just 223, with remaining holdings valued at approximately $1.29 million.
• Analyst price targets for Booking vary widely, with Morgan Stanley setting a target of $5,650, while UBS raised its target to $6,300, reflecting a general consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.8%, and demonstrates a payout ratio of 26.71%.

Calamos Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 99.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 318,917 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $1,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Booking by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $437,284,000 after buying an additional 11,829 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,090,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Booking by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 9,090 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $52,624,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Booking by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 494 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,860,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,418.00 to $5,443.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $6,000.00 price objective (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,070.02 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,096.23 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5,459.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5,336.87. The company has a market cap of $164.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Booking's payout ratio is 26.71%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total transaction of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,237,930.44. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $722,045.80. This trade represents a 32.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking 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.

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