Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Position Raised by Bellecapital International Ltd.

Bellecapital International Ltd. grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Booking accounts for 3.5% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $19,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,073,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,763,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,429 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,649 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 2.0 %

BKNG opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,898.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,615.15. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $164.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.