Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 7,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,658,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $482,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Booking by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 480 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Up 2.4%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,194.99 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $169.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $4,678.10 and its 200-day moving average is $4,859.32.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,299.29.

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.