Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $407.68 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 6.1%, now owning approximately $407.7 million worth of the stock, making it the firm's 7th largest position.
• Several brokerages have recently increased their price targets for Booking, with Citigroup raising it to $6,500 and Royal Bank of Canada setting it at $6,100, all maintaining a buy or outperform rating.
• Booking Holdings announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, payable on September 30th to stockholders of record as of September 5th.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,492 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,789 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 1.6% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.27% of Booking worth $407,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Booking by 300.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 8 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded up $2.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5,571.83. 156,203 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 243,879. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,611.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,204.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,719.34 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $41.90 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's payout ratio is 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,808.81.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total transaction of $5,548,089.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,841,031.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total value of $357,575.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 195 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,486.45. This trade represents a 24.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,116 shares of company stock worth $22,869,434 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Company Profile

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.