Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,548 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.07% of Booking worth $121,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 600.0% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,752.80 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $155.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4,784.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,721.67.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 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.