U S Global Investors Inc. Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• U S Global Investors Inc. has decreased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 15.1%, now holding 3,018 shares worth approximately $17.47 million.
• Several analysts have recently raised their price targets for Booking, with estimates now reaching as high as $6,500, reflecting a strong buy sentiment.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel recently sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock for about $5.55 million, decreasing his ownership stake by 3.95%.

U S Global Investors Inc. cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 15.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,018 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 537 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 2.1% of U S Global Investors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. U S Global Investors Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $17,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in Booking by 9.8% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Booking by 13.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 513 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in Booking by 10.0% during the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 297 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 target price (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Booking from $5,418.00 to $5,443.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total value of $82,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,108,500. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,164.93 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $5,492.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,317.27. The company has a market capitalization of $167.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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