UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 14,966 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC cut its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 281,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,966 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,399,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley upped their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,378.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $175.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4,754.85 and a 200 day moving average of $4,885.53. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,392.21.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $20.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

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.