Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Booking were worth $16,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 600.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Up 2.7 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,591.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,797.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,690.53. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

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.