Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 16 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,379 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $7,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the first quarter worth $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 400.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,007.69, for a total transaction of $2,003,076.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,922,265.19. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,452 shares of company stock worth $17,987,397. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,768.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5,182.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,401.84. 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 cap of $153.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $83.39 earnings per share. 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 fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Seaport Global Securities raised their price target on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $5,433.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,139.21.

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.