Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 445 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 93,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Booking were worth $465,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price objective (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush lifted their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,278.66.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4,689.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,779.24. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its 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 firm 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, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. 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%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

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.