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

Cynosure Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 41.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 600.0% in 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 last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,689.30 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,774.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,750.13. 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 $153.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

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. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. 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.