Element Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Element Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by purchasing 572 shares worth approximately $2.63 million.
• Analysts have increased their target prices for Booking, with JPMorgan raising it from $5,360 to $6,000, indicating a strong outlook for the company.
• Booking recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, reflecting a 0.7% yield, with dividends to be paid on September 30th.

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 572 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,635,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,620,154,000 after acquiring an additional 30,054 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after acquiring an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 18,268 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,200 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,023,655,000 after acquiring an additional 8,015 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $6,700.00 price target (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of BKNG traded up $45.1030 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $5,629.1830. 110,185 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,817. The company has a market cap of $182.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,683.14 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $5,560.61 and its 200 day moving average is $5,134.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total value of $5,548,089.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.