First Manhattan CO. LLC. Has $6.08 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Booking were worth $6,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,841,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,753,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 1.5 %

BKNG opened at $5,086.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4,672.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,846.12. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $165.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. B. Riley boosted their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,299.29.

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.