CenterBook Partners LP Purchases 2,774 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 98.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises about 1.7% of CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Booking were worth $27,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $497,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $440,967,000 after purchasing an additional 50,605 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $219,000. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,320,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BKNG. UBS Group lifted their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wedbush increased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,320.38.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,164.15 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4,726.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,758.36.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Booking 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.