River Global Investors LLP Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

River Global Investors LLP reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 51.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 650 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 686 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 0.6% of River Global Investors LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in Booking by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,921,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after buying an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,673.38 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,872.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,649.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

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.