Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is Hosking Partners LLP’s 6th Largest Position

Hosking Partners LLP decreased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,715 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 3.0% of Hosking Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings in Booking were worth $75,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,350,605,000 after purchasing an additional 11,211 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,073,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,763,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,649 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,918.13 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,899.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,596.93. The company has a market cap of $161.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.