Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Holdings Raised by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 139.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,993 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.15% of Booking worth $238,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its stake in Booking by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,236,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Blueprint Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $462,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. B. Riley increased their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,617.26 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4,789.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,707.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS 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 business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.