Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Sells 58 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 25.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up approximately 0.6% of Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Booking by 521,609.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $1,958,352,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BTIG Research raised Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,377.33.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,614.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $182.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $4,990.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,932.90. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,639.70.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.89%.

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.