Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Increases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 69.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,547 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,554 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 0.7% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.12% of Booking worth $201,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley upped their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,341.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $173.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,379.98. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $4,807.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,895.17.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

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.

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