Haverford Trust Co Sells 3 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Haverford Trust Co decreased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 1,023.1% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,535,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Booking by 25.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 26.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 184 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Booking by 3.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,763,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Booking by 25.6% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,727,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,709.72 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,788.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,713.79. Booking Holdings Inc. 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 $154.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

Booking 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.