Schroder Investment Management Group Has $1.71 Billion Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Schroder Investment Management Group trimmed its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 344,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 34,039 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 1.6% of Schroder Investment Management Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,710,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,350,605,000 after purchasing an additional 11,211 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the third 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Booking by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,283,000 after buying an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 2.5 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $152.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,779.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,733.69.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (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 negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley raised 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.