Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,228 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $19,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Katamaran Capital LLP acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $2,335,000. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 23,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,317,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Booking by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 394 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,236,000. Finally, Prudential PLC lifted its position in Booking by 86.1% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 1,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,052,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,374.90.

Booking Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,284.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $4,757.12 and its 200-day moving average is $4,755.12. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 analyst estimates 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 forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio 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.