BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Cuts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 54.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,420 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,642 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Booking were worth $31,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Realta Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $520,000. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $229,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Booking by 120.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 185 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 140 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Barclays upped 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. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson raised 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock traded up $116.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5,449.39. 68,815 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 246,771. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $4,839.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,899.90. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,449.39. The firm has a market cap of $177.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $20.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.