Novem Group Buys New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Novem Group purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 75 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,986,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 valued at $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of BKNG traded up $31.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5,483.67. 62,078 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,776. The business has a 50 day moving average of $4,856.58 and a 200 day moving average of $4,903.73. The company has a market capitalization of $178.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,505.28.

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, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $20.39 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. B. Riley raised their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.