Curated Wealth Partners LLC Sells 260,317 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Curated Wealth Partners cut its Booking Holdings stake by 98.6%, selling 260,317 shares and retaining 3,829 shares valued at approximately $624,000. Despite this sale, institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of BKNG.
• Booking launched Vayo, an AI-powered personal travel agent entering private beta, with plans to invest $100 million in the platform. The initiative is intended to deepen customer engagement and create potential future monetization opportunities.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with Booking holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $233.95 price target. The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.54 in EPS and $7.35 billion in revenue.

Curated Wealth Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 98.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,829 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 260,317 shares during the period. Curated Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2,674.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,026,348,000 after acquiring an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth about $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,525.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,087,597,000 after buying an additional 5,869,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Booking launched Vayo, an AI-powered personal travel agent now entering private beta, and plans to invest $100 million in the platform. Management is positioning Vayo as a tool that organizes complete trips, learns user preferences and continues assisting travelers after booking. The initiative could create new customer-engagement and monetization opportunities over time. Booking Holdings Launches Vayo with Planned $100M Investment
• Positive Sentiment: Booking recently advanced even as the broader market declined, suggesting company-specific buying interest. The move may reflect investor enthusiasm for Vayo and confidence in Booking’s travel-market position. Booking Holdings Advances While Market Declines
• Positive Sentiment: Booking has an average analyst price target of $233.95, well above the stock’s recent trading level, indicating substantial potential upside if the company meets expectations. Price targets are estimates, not guarantees. Booking Holdings Stock Has Average Price Target of $233.95
• Neutral Sentiment: BKNG has attracted unusually high attention among Zacks users, but the reports do not identify a new earnings forecast, upgrade or fundamental catalyst. The increased visibility may support trading interest without necessarily changing valuation. Booking Holdings Is Attracting Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports noting approximately $10.1 billion in advance deposits emphasize that much of the money belongs to hotels and other travel providers. This supports Booking’s role as a platform but should not be interpreted as equivalent to revenue or cash available to shareholders. Booking Advance Deposits

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Rosenblatt Securities began coverage on Booking in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.95.

Booking Stock Up 3.2%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $165.80 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $220.81. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $183.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.13.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $55.40 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.

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