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

Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $7,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Booking by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,455,000 after buying an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in Booking by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,459,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,400.52 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,838.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,669.48. The firm has a market cap of $144.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Wedbush increased their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America increased their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.