Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 618 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 618 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $74,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balboa Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Booking in the third quarter valued at $253,000. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 8.2% in the third quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 464.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,213,000 after acquiring an additional 12,155 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 12.3% during the third quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC now owns 301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth approximately $214,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley boosted their target price 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,465.48 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4,816.74 and a 200-day moving average of $4,677.04.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

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.