Intellectus Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Intellectus Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 58.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in shares of Booking by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 5,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of Booking by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 31,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $169,598,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Haven Private LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $308,000. Finally, Andra AP fonden grew its position in Booking by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 6,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,811,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,673.38 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,872.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,656.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $153.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase 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 0.82%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

About Booking

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.