Capital International Investors Increases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Capital International Investors raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 172,915 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Booking were worth $859,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its position in Booking by 2.6% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 268.5% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,147,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 3,561.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Booking by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,529,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in Booking by 404.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4,689.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,774.73.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BKNG. 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wedbush lifted their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,278.66.

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.