Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Holdings Decreased by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 332 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $35,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $273,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in Booking by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $979,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,495,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,353.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $142.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,849.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,671.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price target (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.