Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Down 5.6% After Insider Selling

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s share price dropped 5.6% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $180.82 and last traded at $180.1880. Approximately 3,240,172 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 9,491,053 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.86.

Specifically, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Booking from $250.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $246.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Booking from $260.00 to $237.40 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.66.

Key Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial raised its price target to $260 and kept a Buy rating, signaling bullish analyst confidence following recent results. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: OpenTable (a Booking unit) completed the acquisition of Canadian reservation platform Libro, expanding Booking’s restaurant/reservations footprint in Quebec — strategically accretive to its ancillary services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages continue to skew positive: aggregate coverage shows a “Moderate Buy” consensus, which supports medium-term investor confidence. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: CFO Ewout Steenbergen will speak at the Barclays Americas Select Conference on May 5 — useful management access but mainly informational ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Street previews (Zacks/Yahoo) expect earnings growth next week — raises odds of a beat but also heightens short-term volatility around the report. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Italy’s antitrust regulator opened an investigation into Booking.com over alleged unfair commercial practices tied to hotel ranking and fee-driven visibility — a regulatory risk that could pressure reputation and require changes to platform displays or fees. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan (filed with the SEC). While the trade was planned (reducing governance red-flag risk), insider selling can still be perceived negatively in the near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deutsche Bank trimmed its price target to $210 (kept Buy), narrowing implied upside and potentially cooling some investor enthusiasm. Read More.

Booking Trading Down 5.5%

The company has a market cap of $142.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $172.57 and its 200 day moving average is $193.84.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $46.88. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

Booking Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 150.0% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Booking during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.