Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,431,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $979,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 target price (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,353.41 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,849.47 and its 200 day moving average is $4,671.37. The stock has a market cap of $142.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for 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%. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 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.