Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Acquires 8,426 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 45.6%, owning approximately 26,899 shares worth about $123.9 million after purchasing an additional 8,426 shares.
• Booking reported $55.40 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $6.80 billion, which is a 16% increase compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company's board has declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, set to be paid to investors on September 30th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 45.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,899 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,426 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Booking worth $123,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 27.3% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $15,054,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $203,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Booking by 9.4% during the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 13.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 513 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,363,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $52.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5,599.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 138,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 179,989. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,700.97 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5,612.10 and a 200 day moving average of $5,180.75.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Booking's payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America increased their target price on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $6,200.00 price target (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI upped 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

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.