Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.2% of BNP Paribas’ portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Booking were worth $27,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Booking by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 52 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position 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. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its stake in Booking by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,733,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,731,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,202.80 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4,652.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,821.83. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $169.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $20.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,262.41.

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.