Banco Santander S.A. Has $14.01 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 845.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,975 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Booking were worth $14,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in Booking by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 40 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 84 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 3.2% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobsen Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the second quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised their price target on Booking from $4,448.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush increased their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $5,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,785.00.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,051.29 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4,431.19 and a 200-day moving average of $4,019.06. The stock has a market cap of $167.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,079.50 and a 52-week high of $5,069.44.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 23.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.