Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Holdings Lifted by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.28% of Booking worth $465,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4,689.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,779.24. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $150.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.