Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $9.60 on March 31st

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 9.60 per share by the business services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75.

Booking has a dividend payout ratio of 15.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Booking to earn $243.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $38.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.8%.

Booking Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of BKNG traded down $32.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $4,866.07. The company had a trading volume of 23,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,799. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4,891.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,640.74. The company has a market capitalization of $159.68 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Booking

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Booking stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 34.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Benchmark upped 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. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.