Kane Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Kane Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 335 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,665,000. Booking comprises about 0.9% of Kane Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $9,321,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Booking by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,556.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,712.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,771.67.

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 the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued 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 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. UBS Group increased their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,327.28.

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.