Abacus Planning Group Inc. Lowers Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Abacus Planning Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 11.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 40 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in shares of Booking by 100.0% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5,750.00 target price (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,807.89.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,418.05 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5,524.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,297.52. The company has a market cap of $175.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,096.23 and a one year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $41.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued 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 payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,108,500. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total value of $357,575.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,486.45. The trade was a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.