Harvard Management Co. Inc. Sells 17,100 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Harvard Management Co. Inc. lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 46.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,100 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises approximately 5.8% of Harvard Management Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Harvard Management Co. Inc. owned 0.06% of Booking worth $98,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities dropped their target price on Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. B. Riley boosted their price objective 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. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,263.28.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $4,889.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $159.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4,648.23 and a 200-day moving average of $4,804.01. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

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.