Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Sandhill Capital Partners LLC has reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 1.7%, selling 103 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 6,122 shares valued at approximately $28.2 million.
• Major institutional investors, including Vanguard and Deutsche Bank, have increased their positions in Booking, highlighting strong interest in the company as 92.42% of its stock is owned by institutions.
• Booking Holdings reported a 16% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings of $55.40 per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations.

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,122 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 103 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 2.3% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $28,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. raised its stake in Booking by 378.8% in the 1st quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 1,082 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,985,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC raised its stake in Booking by 170.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A raised its stake in Booking by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 37,262 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $171,663,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in Booking by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 9,336 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $43,024,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Booking by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 517 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,396,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BKNG. 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. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $6,700.00 price objective (up previously from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company'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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $10.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $5,720.87. 195,538 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,657. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,700.97 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market cap of $185.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $5,577.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,155.63.

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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $41.90 EPS. 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

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.