Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Position Lessened by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 61.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 968 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,530 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $4,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BKNG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,262.41.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $2.15 on Thursday, reaching $5,101.43. 304,739 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 252,584. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The company's 50-day moving average is $4,648.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,806.77. The firm has a market cap of $166.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The firm 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 firm's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $20.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Booking's payout ratio is 22.19%.

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.