Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,165 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Booking were worth $118,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 3.2% during the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,400.52 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4,838.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,669.48.

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, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BKNG. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W raised Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

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.