APG Asset Management N.V. Grows Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V.’s holdings in Booking were worth $15,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JMP Securities dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley boosted their target price on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,327.28.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,494.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $147.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,717.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,763.18. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

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.