Sciencast Management LP Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 513 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,549,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Booking by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 695 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $383,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $308,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. B. Riley increased their price target 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. Mizuho raised their target price on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price target on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4,789.60 and a 200-day moving average of $4,694.74. The stock has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.