Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. Decreases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 16.4% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 8,735 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Booking by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,573.31 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 $150.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4,689.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,774.73.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,278.66.

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.