Groupama Asset Managment Takes $2.31 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 462 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,685.75 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4,772.68 and a 200-day moving average of $4,750.56. The firm has a market cap of $153.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.