Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Decreases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 2.4%, now owning 7,543 shares valued at $43.67 million.
• Major institutional investors, including Pacer Advisors Inc. and AQR Capital Management LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Booking, highlighting strong interest from hedge funds.
• Booking recently reported quarterly earnings of $55.40 per share, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60, reflecting its ongoing profitability.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,543 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 184 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $43,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 1,411.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $516,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,780 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $695,259,000 after acquiring an additional 68,243 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Booking by 182.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $482,081,000 after acquiring an additional 67,562 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Booking by 27.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 39,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 19.7% in 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,700.00 price target (up previously from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,928.00.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,286.00 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $5,451.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,348.62.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total value of $3,213,456.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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