Donaldson Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 602 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,773,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Booking by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after acquiring an additional 95,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Booking by 18.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,487.98 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,639.70. The company has a market cap of $178.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5,028.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,937.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 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 business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $20.39 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 23.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. Citigroup boosted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BTIG Research raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,388.37.

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.