PGGM Investments Has $46.56 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

PGGM Investments trimmed its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,489 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Booking were worth $46,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,350,605,000 after acquiring an additional 11,211 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,073,508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,321 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,763,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Booking by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,649 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,400.52 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $144.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4,838.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,669.48.

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 the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.