Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Sells 11 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lowered its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 631 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,283,000 after buying an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $207,089,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 3,940.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,926,000 after acquiring an additional 37,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.7 %

Booking stock opened at $4,685.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $153.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $4,772.68 and its 200 day moving average is $4,750.56.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 target price (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.