CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 9,831 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 81,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,831 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises 0.7% of CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $405,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,285.55.

Booking Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,540.84 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4,702.41 and a 200-day moving average of $4,768.98.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Booking’s payout ratio is 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.