Boston Partners Reduces Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Boston Partners lessened its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,462 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Booking were worth $417,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,563.39 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,809.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,687.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

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.