Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 804 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up about 3.6% of Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $70,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.0% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,777.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4,788.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,721.16. 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 released its quarterly 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. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Research analysts forecast 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 issued a $9.60 dividend. 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 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

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.