Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC owned about 0.06% of Booking worth $104,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $9,321,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,586.53 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $150.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4,715.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,769.51.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Eleven research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,327.28.

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.