Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Position Trimmed by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,281 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 709 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 1.7% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Booking worth $468,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BTIG Research upgraded Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,299.29.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG traded down $45.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5,216.55. 195,520 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,452. The company has a market cap of $169.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4,700.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,864.57.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $20.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.89%.

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.