Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 48.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Booking by 3,940.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after acquiring an additional 37,477 shares during the last quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth about $155,427,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 139.9% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 47,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $238,464,000 after purchasing an additional 27,993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,777.91 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,788.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,721.16. The company 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.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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 stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.