Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by Renaissance Investment Group LLC

Renaissance Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,382.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,766 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up 2.3% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in Booking by 50.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Key Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue beat expectations: Booking reported adjusted earnings of $2.54 per share versus the $2.43 consensus, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $7.35 billion, exceeding estimates of $7.19 billion. Growth in room nights, gross bookings and EBITDA pointed to continued travel demand. Booking Holdings Q2 results top estimates as travel demand remains resilient
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised targets and maintained bullish ratings: UBS lifted its target to $274 and kept a Buy rating, while Wedbush raised its target to $247 with an Outperform rating. Benchmark increased its target to $250, and BTIG reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $250 target. Booking Given New Price Target at UBS Group
• Positive Sentiment: Operational initiatives remain supportive: Management highlighted early benefits from artificial-intelligence personalization, higher savings and growth in its connected-trip offerings, which could support efficiency and longer-term expansion. BKNG Q2 Earnings Call Centers on Resilience, AI and Savings
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend declared: Booking declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, payable September 30 to shareholders of record September 11. The modest 0.8% yield is supportive of shareholder returns but unlikely to materially affect valuation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Director stock sale: Director Robert J. Mylod Jr. sold 1,000 shares worth $206,700 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance and leaves him with 15,000 shares, it is not necessarily a bearish signal. SEC Form 4 filing
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term concerns temper the optimism: Third-quarter revenue guidance was viewed as soft, room-night growth is slowing, and marketing expenses are rising faster than revenue. Geopolitical volatility and competition from Google also remain risks, while some commentary warned that the recent rally has left the stock technically overbought. Why Analysts Are Bullish on a Stock That’s Down 20%

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. HSBC reduced their price objective on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Gordon Haskett lifted their price objective on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.69.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $207.39 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $178.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.