Virtu Financial LLC Sells 2,119 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Virtu Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 87.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 291 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,119 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price objective (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 0.6 %

Booking stock opened at $4,617.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $4,789.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,707.25.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.