Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $27.73 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 10.9%, selling 740 shares and now holding 6,020 shares valued at approximately $27.73 million.
• Multiple hedge funds increased their investments in Booking, with GAMMA Investing LLC significantly raising its stake by over 521,000%, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Booking recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.7%, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 10.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,020 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 740 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $27,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 30,054 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% in 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Booking by 0.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,706,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Booking by 6.6% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,365,170,000 after purchasing an additional 18,268 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,200 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,023,655,000 after purchasing an additional 8,015 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,052 shares of company stock worth $22,511,858. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $52.94 on Monday, hitting $5,599.05. The stock had a trading volume of 138,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 176,955. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,700.97 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5,612.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,183.09. The firm has a market cap of $181.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

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.