Martingale Asset Management L P Increases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 219.7% in Q1, owning 732 shares valued at $3,372,000.
• Several large investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC, have made significant increases in their positions in Booking, with GAMMA boosting its stake by 521,609.7%, now owning shares worth over $10 billion.
• Booking Holdings announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, illustrating its financial strength amidst bullish analyst ratings and outperforming revenue estimates.

Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 219.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 732 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Booking were worth $3,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth $32,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth $41,000. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $10.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5,720.87. The company had a trading volume of 195,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 210,195. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,700.97 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5,577.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,158.26. The company has a market capitalization of $185.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $5,750.00 price objective (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 price objective (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.