Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stake Boosted by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,129 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Booking were worth $40,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,278.66.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,689.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,779.24. 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 market capitalization of $150.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.