MetLife Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 352 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $42,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 3.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,763,797,000 after acquiring an additional 13,429 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,421,069,000 after purchasing an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 209,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $884,238,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,322,600,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Argus downgraded shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $4,600.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,820.50.

Booking Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $46.79 on Wednesday, reaching $5,167.93. 8,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,926. The company has a market capitalization of $171.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,079.50 and a 12 month high of $5,237.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,528.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,063.21.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

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.