Bridges Investment Management Inc. Sells 9 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 496 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 80.0% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 66.7% in the third 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. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4,898.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,615.15. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during 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, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

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