Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,926,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,663 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.84% of Booking worth $14,539,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4,789.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,700.90.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Baird R W raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.