Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Holdings Trimmed by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 175,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,033 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 4.0% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.53% of Booking worth $871,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 2.2% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4,779.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,733.69. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus 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.