Employees Retirement System of Texas Makes New $67.57 Million Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $67,571,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Booking by 600.0% in the 4th 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. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Down 3.7 %

BKNG opened at $4,284.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4,757.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,760.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,374.90.

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.