Norges Bank Makes New $1.96 Billion Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 394,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.19% of Booking as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth $114,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Booking by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 175 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Booking by 13.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 4.0% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 24.3% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,453,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. Barclays raised their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,764.16 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,787.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,721.46. The stock has a market cap of $156.34 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Booking’s payout ratio is 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.