Flputnam Investment Management Co. Acquires 155 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $25,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 10 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 2.0 %

BKNG opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $164.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4,898.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,607.88.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio 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.