Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 175,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,033 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises about 4.0% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $871,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after buying an additional 8,735 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,495,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,779.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,733.69. The stock has a market cap of $152.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. 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. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking 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.