Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,063 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 1.0% of Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $15,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,350,605,000 after purchasing an additional 11,211 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,073,508,000 after buying an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Booking by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,763,797,000 after buying an additional 13,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Booking by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,311,000 after buying an additional 11,649 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,589.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4,792.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,689.82. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

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.