Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Reaches New 52-Week Low Following Insider Selling

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $3,887.44 and last traded at $3,911.2440, with a volume of 88507 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $4,269.99.

Specifically, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 550 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,093.72, for a total transaction of $2,251,546.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 18,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,760,211.40. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 10 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,043.49, for a total transaction of $40,434.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,989,577.15. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,149.75, for a total value of $1,875,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 18,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,948,814.25. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Benchmark cut their price target on Booking from $6,400.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $5,500.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 4th. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,954.00 to $5,456.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,976.79.

More Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus on revenue and showed healthy travel demand (room nights +9%, gross bookings +16%), supporting longer‑term growth expectations. Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management flagged generative AI projects aimed at personalization and conversion — a potential productivity/margin tailwind if execution scales. Generative AI article
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate action: company announced a 25‑for‑1 stock split (shares payable early April), which increases liquidity and retail accessibility — often supportive over time. MarketBeat: Split story
• Neutral Sentiment: Forward tone: management gave constructive revenue guidance for Q1 (~$5.4B–$5.5B) but EPS guidance/detail was unclear in early commentary — revenue outlook helps, but lack of clear EPS guidance leaves some uncertainty. Zacks: guidance coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Documentation posted (earnings transcript, slide deck) for investors who want to dig into regional/unit economics and AI roadmap. Earnings transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reaction: multiple firms trimmed price targets and some ratings were downgraded or moved to neutral — the re‑ratings (Citigroup, Wells Fargo, KeyBanc, JPMorgan, Benchmark, DA Davidson) amplified selling despite targets still implying upside. Representative coverage of a Citi cut is here. TickerReport: Citigroup PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: AI disintermediation worries: investors fear Big Tech AI (e.g., Google’s travel/agentic features) could siphon bookings and increase marketing spend to retain visibility — a structural risk that prompted some to sell into the beat. MarketBeat: AI concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO filings show February share sales (disclosed Form 4s), which some investors view as a mild negative signal even though holdings remain large. SEC Form 4 (insider transaction)

Booking Stock Down 6.1%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,032.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,193.24. The company has a market cap of $129.16 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21.

Shares of Booking are scheduled to split on the morning of Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.96 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 127.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $41.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Booking by 7.7% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,132,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Booking by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $174,893,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Finally, GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC grew its position in Booking by 339.0% in the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Company Profile

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.