Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 518 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 80.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 126 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Booking by 234.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 25,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $128,066,000 after acquiring an additional 18,077 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 797 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,960,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Booking by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 70,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,130,000 after buying an additional 9,945 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 836 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the period. Finally, GM Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 73.3% during the fourth quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,589.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $150.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4,792.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,689.82.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

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.