Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Reduces Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 60.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 502 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 770 shares during the quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings in Booking were worth $2,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,262.41.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG traded up $101.37 on Friday, hitting $5,202.80. The company had a trading volume of 270,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,822. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4,652.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,821.83. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. 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. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.