Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Buys Shares of 2,579 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,814,000. Booking accounts for about 0.8% of Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 600.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on 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. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,327.28.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,586.53 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.51 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $4,715.54 and its 200-day moving average is $4,769.51.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. On average, analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Booking 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.