Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Declares Dividend Increase – $9.60 Per Share

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 9.60 per share by the business services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75.

Booking has a payout ratio of 14.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Booking to earn $243.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $35.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.4%.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $15.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $5,033.83. 350,869 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 275,626. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4,901.28 and a 200-day moving average of $4,580.38. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. 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 report on Friday. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

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.