Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Purchases 125 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,054,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in Booking by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,459,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $994,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Booking by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,018,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. 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 report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,388.37.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,298.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,098.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,940.18. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,639.70.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $20.39 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

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.