Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Holdings Raised by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 246.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,877 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,978 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.07% of Booking worth $84,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $1,068,137,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Booking by 3,557.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 142,166 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $333,870,000 after acquiring an additional 138,279 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,891 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $596,303,000 after acquiring an additional 112,831 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $414,234,000 after purchasing an additional 112,249 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $222,919,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,234.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $97,938.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,234.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,467 shares of company stock valued at $22,299,114 in the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Edward Jones reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock traded up $4.65 on Wednesday, hitting $3,586.13. 180,978 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 280,883. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,456.93 and a 12-month high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $122.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3,596.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,349.31.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $24.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

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.