Natural Investments LLC Buys New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 63 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,400.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $144.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,838.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,669.48.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.