Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,945 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 0.9% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $350,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 11,211 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,073,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Booking by 3.3% in the third 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 increased its stake in Booking by 4.1% in 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 valued at $1,249,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,649 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,591.89 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4,797.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,690.53. The company has a market capitalization of $150.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 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.