Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Holdings Cut by Aurora Investment Counsel

Aurora Investment Counsel lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 692 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up 1.9% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after buying an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 3,940.8% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after acquiring an additional 37,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at about $155,427,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,295.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $140.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4,825.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,666.88. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. 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 payout ratio is 22.19%.

Booking 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.