Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in shares of Booking by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 3,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,392,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 5,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,145,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 8.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $1,133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,673.38 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $153.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4,872.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,662.88.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush raised their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.