Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Bought by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Booking comprises about 0.8% of Westpac Banking Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $12,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush increased 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 0.1 %

Booking stock opened at $4,689.30 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4,774.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,750.13. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.