Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Has $1.70 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 31.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 342 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 0.6% of Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Booking by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,283,000 after acquiring an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Booking by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 214,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,064,161,000 after acquiring an additional 4,258 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank cut Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten 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. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,374.90.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,284.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4,757.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,755.12. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $140.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. 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.