Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Sold by UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 2.9%, holding approximately 273,482 shares valued at $1.26 billion after selling 8,151 shares in Q1.
• The CEO, Glenn D. Fogel, sold 1,013 shares at an average price of $5,476.89, which decreased his ownership by 3.95%.
• Booking has received several analyst upgrades, with Evercore ISI raising its price target from $5,500 to $6,250, while maintaining an "outperform" rating.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC cut its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 273,482 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,151 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 0.84% of Booking worth $1,259,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Booking by 1,411.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $516,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,780 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 79.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $695,259,000 after acquiring an additional 68,243 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Booking by 182.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 104,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $482,081,000 after acquiring an additional 67,562 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 127.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 81,785 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $406,342,000 after acquiring an additional 45,808 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total transaction of $357,575.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,486.45. This trade represents a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total transaction of $5,548,089.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,116 shares of company stock valued at $22,869,434. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,808.81.

Booking Trading Down 0.7%

Booking stock traded down $39.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5,458.32. 128,764 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 172,971. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,894.51 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.96, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5,594.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,215.75.

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 (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share. Booking's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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