Vanessa Ames Wittman Sells 1,125 Shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock

Key Points

• Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking on April 17 at an average price of $192 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing her stake by 6.55% to 16,050 shares (worth about $3.08M); the sale was disclosed on SEC Form 4.
• Booking reported a huge quarterly beat, posting $48.80 EPS versus a $1.92 estimate and $6.35 billion in revenue (up 16% year‑over‑year) with a net margin of 20.08%.
• Shares traded around $190.86 (market cap ~$151.1B) and analysts are generally positive—MarketBeat shows a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average price target of about $232.66, while individual targets range roughly from $210 to $260 indicating potential upside.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $1.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $190.86. The company had a trading volume of 4,271,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,575,956. The stock has a market cap of $151.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.20. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.62 and a one year high of $233.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.01.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $46.88. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.26%.

Key Headlines Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect earnings growth and the setup points to a likely beat in next week’s report — positive momentum heading into the print could support the stock if results and guidance beat. Booking Holdings (BKNG) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth (Yahoo) Booking Holdings (BKNG) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial raised its price target to $260 and kept a Buy rating — a bullish signal from a boutique shop that implies meaningful upside if consensus estimates hold. Tigress Financial Raises Booking Holdings (BKNG) Price Target (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: OpenTable (part of Booking) acquired Canadian reservation platform Libro, expanding local market coverage in Quebec — a strategic tuck-in that could incrementally boost bookings and merchant services revenue over time. OpenTable Acquires Libro (GlobeNewswire)
• Positive Sentiment: 24/7 Wall St. reiterated a materially higher model price target (~$257), echoing bullish analyst view that the stock has multi‑quarter upside if travel demand and monetization trends persist. Wall Street’s Ratings on Booking Stock Align With Our $257.28 Price Target (24/7 Wall St.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces discuss the stock’s recent underperformance (shares down over the last six months vs. S&P) and pose buy/hold/sell considerations — useful framing for investors but not new fundamental information by itself. Booking (BKNG): Buy, Sell, or Hold Post Q4 Earnings? (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lowered its price target to $210 (still a Buy) — the cut reduces implied upside and may temper near‑term sentiment despite the maintained positive rating. Deutsche Bank Adjusts Price Target on Booking (MarketScreener) The Fly

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Gordon Haskett decreased their price target on Booking from $217.60 to $214.80 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $244.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Booking from $250.00 to $224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $260.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $232.66.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Booking by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. raised its position in Booking by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 53 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank raised its position in Booking by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Busey Bank now owns 44 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Booking by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company's businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.

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