Sovran Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 104 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Sovran Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc., taking a position valued at approximately $594,000 by purchasing 104 shares.
• Booking Holdings has announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, which will be paid to shareholders of record on September 5th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.
• Recent analyst ratings reflect a generally positive outlook, with three analysts rating it a Strong Buy, while the consensus price target for the stock is $5,808.81.

Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 104 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Booking by 300.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 8 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total value of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,237,930.44. This trade represents a 4.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total value of $82,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,108,500. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,467,630 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 price target (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Three 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Booking stock traded up $1.56 on Friday, hitting $5,444.44. The stock had a trading volume of 420,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,646. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,985.57 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $176.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.86, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5,570.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5,235.05.

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 the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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