Sciencast Management LP Acquires Shares of 513 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 513 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,549,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 600.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4,789.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,694.74.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

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.