Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 17,000 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,000 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Booking were worth $383,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,350,605,000 after buying an additional 11,211 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,073,508,000 after buying an additional 2,321 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $1,958,352,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,311,000 after acquiring an additional 11,649 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Barclays increased their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,752.80 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $4,784.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,721.67. The company has a market cap of $155.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

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.