Phoenix Financial Ltd. Has $557,000 Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Phoenix Financial Ltd. cut its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 69.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in Booking in the third quarter valued at about $670,000. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 268.5% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Booking by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,316,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 3,561.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,955,000 after buying an additional 2,992 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,494.64 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $147.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,717.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,763.18.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price target (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,327.28.

Booking Company 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.