Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Boosts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,210.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,133 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,055,006,000 after buying an additional 23,159 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Booking by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after acquiring an additional 816,022 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 68,625 shares of company stock worth $11,445,375. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations: Adjusted earnings per share were $2.54 versus the $2.43–$2.45 consensus, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $7.35 billion, ahead of the $7.19 billion estimate. Room nights, gross bookings and EBITDA also surpassed expectations. Booking Holdings Q2 results top estimates as travel demand remains resilient
• Positive Sentiment: Travel demand remains resilient: Strong domestic and regional travel supported growth across the platform, helping ease concerns about weaker long-haul international demand and Middle East-related disruption. Investors viewed the performance as evidence that Booking’s business remains durable. Booking Holdings Stock Surges on Better-Than-Expected Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets: UBS increased its target to $274 and initiated a Buy rating; Benchmark raised its target to $250 and also rated the stock Buy; Wedbush lifted its target to $247 with an Outperform rating. BTIG reaffirmed Buy with a $250 target. These revisions reinforce the post-earnings bullish sentiment. Analyst target updates
• Positive Sentiment: AI and efficiency initiatives add longer-term potential: Management highlighted early benefits from AI-powered personalization, connected-trip development and higher savings, while Booking’s transaction infrastructure remains difficult for generative AI competitors to replicate. BKNG Q2 Earnings Call Centers on Resilience, AI and Savings
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target from $175 to $220 but maintained a Neutral rating, indicating more limited upside after the rally. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst update
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term risks remain: Booking guided third-quarter revenue to $9.4–$9.5 billion, below the roughly $9.7 billion consensus estimate. Management also cited Middle East-related volatility, while marketing expenses growing faster than revenue could pressure customer-acquisition costs and margins. Booking Holdings: The Buy Thesis Survives Q2

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $207.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $160.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $177.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.76. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 120.96%. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

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.