Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Raises Dividend to $9.60 Per Share

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 9.60 per share by the business services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75.

Booking has a dividend payout ratio of 14.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Booking to earn $243.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $35.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.4%.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $15.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5,033.83. 350,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,626. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,901.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,580.38.

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 the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Booking in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus cut Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.