Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 431 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Baird R W raised Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 0.6 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4,789.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,700.90. The company has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted 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 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 the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Booking Company 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.