Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 34.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,209 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Booking were worth $15,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Booking by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Booking by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,685.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4,772.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,750.56. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $9.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

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.