Wambolt & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Wambolt & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 17.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Booking by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,620,154,000 after acquiring an additional 30,054 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,936,132,000 after purchasing an additional 9,333 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,706,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,365,170,000 after purchasing an additional 18,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Booking by 578,824.0% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,675,765,000 after purchasing an additional 289,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,906.24 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5,157.78 and its 200 day moving average is $5,398.49. The company has a market cap of $158.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,096.23 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. The business’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. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $6,325.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,141.52.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 3,452 shares of company stock valued at $17,987,397 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company 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.