Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Position Trimmed by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,012 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Booking were worth $72,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Garner Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Booking by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its stake in Booking by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Seascape Capital Management grew its stake in Booking by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 1,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Booking by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $989,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.4 %

Booking stock opened at $4,917.46 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,887.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,642.68. The stock has a market cap of $161.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

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.