Employees Retirement System of Texas Makes New $67.57 Million Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,600 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $67,571,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cfra upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of 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. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten research 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5,501.08. The company had a trading volume of 232,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,271. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,889.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,910.68. The company has a market capitalization of $179.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,582.93.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $20.39 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.89%.

Booking 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.