Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 3,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,700,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Booking by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Up 2.2 %

Booking stock opened at $4,563.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $149.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,809.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,687.26. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.