Corebridge Financial Inc. Acquires 26 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $58,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Booking by 88.8% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 168 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Booking by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Booking by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,023.1% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,535,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.6 %

BKNG opened at $4,617.26 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4,789.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,707.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.