Rathbones Group PLC Purchases 1,321 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the period. Booking makes up 1.1% of Rathbones Group PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.14% of Booking worth $235,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Booking by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 214,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,064,161,000 after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,374.90.

Booking Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,284.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,757.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,760.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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 business 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 fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.19%.

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.