Investment Management Corp of Ontario Cuts Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 54.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,551 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,013 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in Booking were worth $12,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Booking Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,086.10 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,672.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,849.82. The stock has a market cap of $165.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39, 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 $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $20.39 EPS. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 0.75%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,299.29.

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.

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