Marathon Asset Management Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,184 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,758 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 1.7% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $60,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 3,940.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after purchasing an additional 37,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth approximately $155,427,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 2.0 %

BKNG opened at $5,016.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $164.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4,898.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,622.49.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.19%.

Booking 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.