Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 131,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,849 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.40% of Booking worth $654,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on 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 price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,634.24 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4,779.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,740.07. The company has a market capitalization of $152.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 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.