iA Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 522 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 522 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises about 1.0% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $56,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Garner Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 1.9% in the third quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Booking by 0.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 2.7 %

Booking stock opened at $4,591.89 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $150.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,797.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,690.53.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Booking Company 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.