Aviva PLC Has $141.95 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Aviva PLC reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,476 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $141,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 3.7% in the first quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the first quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Booking by 0.8% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,940.00 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $5,311.14 and its 200 day moving average is $5,401.89. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $159.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $83.39 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total transaction of $79,379.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,873,729.36. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Booking from $5,443.00 to $5,523.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,121.23.

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.