Ethic Inc. Lowers Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 3.3% in Q2, owning 4,754 shares valued at approximately $27 million, which constitutes about 0.5% of its portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, have increased their holdings in Booking, highlighting a strong interest in the company's stock.
• Booking's stock price has recently risen by 2.9%, and the company reported an EPS of $55.40 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Ethic Inc. lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,754 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 164 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 0.5% of Ethic Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $27,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,620,154,000 after acquiring an additional 30,054 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,706,063,000 after buying an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Booking by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,365,170,000 after buying an additional 18,268 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Booking by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 226,608 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,297,331,000 after buying an additional 19,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho began coverage on Booking in a research report on Monday, September 29th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $5,975.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $6,000.00 price target (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,976.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total value of $79,379.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 732 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,873,729.36. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total transaction of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director owned 131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Up 2.9%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,289.34 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,451.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5,348.62. The company has a market cap of $171.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

About Booking

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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