Metropolis Capital Ltd Buys 12,589 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Metropolis Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 36.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,991 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,589 shares during the period. Booking makes up approximately 8.0% of Metropolis Capital Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Metropolis Capital Ltd owned about 0.14% of Booking worth $216,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 70 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 963 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Booking by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 17,177 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $86,527,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded down $163.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $5,298.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 261,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,722. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,639.70. The stock has a market cap of $172.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5,098.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,942.15.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $20.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,388.37.

Booking 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.