Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s 2nd Largest Position

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd cut its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 126,956 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,444 shares during the period. Booking makes up 10.2% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd owned 0.38% of Booking worth $630,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,822,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,119,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 44.3% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,586,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $2,494,000. Finally, Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $2,549,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective for the company. Baird R W raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 0.6 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,789.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,700.90.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio 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.