AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Acquires 2,014 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 40,280.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,019 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Booking were worth $9,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after buying an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,377.33.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded up $13.52 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5,570.52. 185,629 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 246,428. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,637.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $4,952.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,925.27.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

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.