HUB Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

HUB Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 604 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,001,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in Booking by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 3,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,028,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Booking by 234.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 25,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $128,066,000 after buying an additional 18,077 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 797 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,960,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 70,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,789.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,694.74. The stock has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a boost 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 currently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.