AKO Capital LLP Lowers Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

AKO Capital LLP decreased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,109 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 5.0% of AKO Capital LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. AKO Capital LLP owned 0.22% of Booking worth $360,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 600.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price objective (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,764.16 on Thursday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $4,787.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,721.46. The firm has a market cap of $156.34 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Booking Company 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.