AGF Management Ltd. Lowers Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

AGF Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 99.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,163 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 749,999 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $6,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,427,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 22.4% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,494,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 8.0% during the second quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,227,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,513,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in Booking by 207.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 603 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,493,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,940.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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 Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,311.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5,407.51.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $83.39 earnings per share. The company’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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,291.98, for a total value of $79,379.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 732 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,729.36. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Booking from $5,590.00 to $5,550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Gordon Haskett reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,680.00 to $5,620.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,121.23.

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.