Egerton Capital UK LLP Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Egerton Capital UK LLP decreased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 81.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 52,077 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up approximately 0.7% of Egerton Capital UK LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Egerton Capital UK LLP’s holdings in Booking were worth $60,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. B. Riley lifted their target price on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,353.41 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4,849.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,671.37. The company has a market cap of $142.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 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.