Utah Retirement Systems Trims Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Utah Retirement Systems decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Booking were worth $27,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% during 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 buying an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,909.23 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $4,646.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,804.74. The company has a market capitalization of $160.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $20.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities dropped their target price on Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank cut Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,263.28.

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.