Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Reduces Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 1.4%, trimming its holdings to 5,263 shares valued at approximately $30.47 million.
• Booking reported a positive earnings performance for the last quarter, with an EPS of $55.40, exceeding expectations by $5.08, and a year-over-year revenue increase of 16%.
• A number of hedge funds significantly increased their equity positions in Booking, indicating heightened institutional interest, with 92.42% of the stock now owned by these investors.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,263 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Booking makes up 1.3% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $30,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 1,411.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $516,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 79.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $695,259,000 after purchasing an additional 68,243 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Booking by 182.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $482,081,000 after purchasing an additional 67,562 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Booking by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 181,515 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $836,223,000 after purchasing an additional 39,523 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 213,529 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $983,707,000 after purchasing an additional 35,171 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,286.00 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,096.23 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.32 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5,451.12 and a 200-day moving average of $5,348.62.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $41.90 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total value of $79,379.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 732 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,729.36. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 22,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $118,162,642.46. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, September 29th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $5,975.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,928.00.

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.

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