Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 419,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,084,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 342,723.5% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Booking by 3,940.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,926,000 after acquiring an additional 37,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at about $155,427,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $164.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4,898.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,607.88. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

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

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.