Townsend & Associates Inc Sells 658 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Townsend & Associates Inc reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 20.4%, selling 658 shares and holding a total of 2,571 shares, valued at approximately $14.48 million.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of Booking stock for over $3.2 million, a 2.65% decrease in his ownership, while a total of 3,197 shares were sold by insiders in the past ninety days.
• Research analysts have issued a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Booking Holdings, with a price target averaging $5,808.81 following positive earnings reports and upgrades from several firms.

Townsend & Associates Inc decreased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,571 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 658 shares during the period. Booking makes up 1.4% of Townsend & Associates Inc's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Townsend & Associates Inc's holdings in Booking were worth $14,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in Booking by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,197 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,963 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $6,200.00 price target (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Booking from $5,418.00 to $5,443.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $6,700.00 price target (up previously from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,808.81.

Booking Stock Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,070.02 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5,459.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,343.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.32 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $4,096.23 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

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.

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