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

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 467 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $63,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $343,000. X Square Capital LLC boosted its position in Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 386 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $11,010,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,661,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in 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 equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 research note on Friday. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,779.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,727.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.