Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,578 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $61,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Booking by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,618,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 43.6% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 5.2% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Booking by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark boosted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley lifted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,689.30 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,774.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,750.13.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change 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.