Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,992 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 28,632 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 0.7% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.43% of Booking worth $696,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,764.16 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4,787.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,721.46. The company has a market capitalization of $156.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.