FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Has $865,000 Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co decreased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 3,940.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after buying an additional 37,477 shares during the last quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth about $155,427,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Booking by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 51,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $253,762,000 after purchasing an additional 19,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price for the company. 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,034.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4,900.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,594.68.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.