Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Bell Asset Management Ltd

Bell Asset Management Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 39.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 863 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up 1.2% of Bell Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $6,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Booking by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark increased their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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 report on Monday, January 6th. BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,374.90.

Booking Stock Down 3.7 %

Booking stock opened at $4,284.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,757.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,760.24.

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 the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.