Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 29.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 0.6% of Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $13,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Booking by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,191,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Stokes Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in Booking by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 10,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,494,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $2,693,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,471.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $146.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,803.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,691.22.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.