Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $9,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 600.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 80.0% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 4.8 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,451.03 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,861.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,667.69. The company has a market capitalization of $146.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.