Empowered Funds LLC Raises Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 4.3% during Q1, now owning 2,126 shares valued at approximately $9.79 million.
• Booking recently reported an EPS of $55.40 for its last quarter, beating estimates by $5.08, along with revenue of $6.80 billion that exceeded expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60, with a yield of 0.7%, set to be paid on September 30th to investors of record on September 5th.

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,126 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $9,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Booking by 300.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 8 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $39.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $5,458.32. 128,764 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 172,971. The stock has a market cap of $176.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5,594.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,214.50. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,894.51 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $41.90 EPS. The business's quarterly 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,808.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total transaction of $5,548,089.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total value of $357,575.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 195 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,486.45. This trade represents a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,116 shares of company stock worth $22,869,434. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.