Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 151 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Climber Capital SA bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $377,000. Pitcairn Co. grew its holdings in Booking by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,461,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $591,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 1,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,179,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 2,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,158,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,450.53 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4,766.73 and its 200 day moving average is $4,748.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Wedbush lifted 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. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.