Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.1% of Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,940.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,926,000 after acquiring an additional 37,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $155,427,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,295.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,825.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,666.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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. As a group, equities 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price objective (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Baird R W upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Nine research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

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.