Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Fiduciary Management Inc. WI

Fiduciary Management Inc. WI reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 112,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,861 shares during the period. Booking makes up about 5.2% of Fiduciary Management Inc. WI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI’s holdings in Booking were worth $558,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $440,967,000 after buying an additional 50,605 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $207,089,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,689.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,774.73.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS 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 $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,278.66.

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.