Naviter Wealth LLC Sells 7 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Naviter Wealth LLC reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 379 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 5,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Booking by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 31,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $169,598,000 after buying an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $1,133,000. Haven Private LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $308,000. Finally, Andra AP fonden increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 6,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,811,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,673.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $153.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. 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 price is $4,872.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,656.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.