International Assets Investment Management LLC Invests $3.77 Billion in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 106,417 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,774,850,000. Booking makes up approximately 0.8% of International Assets Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned 0.31% of Booking as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Booking by 37.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 64,317 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $151,044,000 after acquiring an additional 17,432 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 613 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth about $387,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.0% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,585 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,767,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 7.5% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BKNG. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Booking from $3,855.00 to $4,285.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $79.97 on Friday, reaching $3,601.90. 253,069 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 271,383. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.08 billion, a PE ratio of 30.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $3,593.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,338.11.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $24.74 EPS. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CFO David I. Goulden sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,494.47, for a total transaction of $3,494,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,657,571.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Booking news, CFO David I. Goulden sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,494.47, for a total transaction of $3,494,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,657,571.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,497.80, for a total value of $97,938.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,217,234.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114. Insiders own 0.15% of the company's stock.

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.