Decatur Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Decatur Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 2.3% of Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Booking by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after buying an additional 8,735 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,278.66.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $150.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4,689.13 and its 200-day moving average is $4,774.73. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

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.