Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Booking accounts for 0.5% of Ethic Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $23,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in Booking by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,338,000. Family Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Management Corp now owns 952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,730,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $268,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Booking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 278,063 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,534,000 after buying an additional 4,401 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,170.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $168.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4,668.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,841.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $20.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,299.29.

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.