Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Increases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 51.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 1.1% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,394,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its position in Booking by 2.2% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Booking by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Booking by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BKNG. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 target price (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $4,779.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,733.69. The stock has a market cap of $152.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

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.