Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Sells 206 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 206 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Booking were worth $45,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Booking by 600.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 4.0 %

BKNG opened at $4,465.48 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4,816.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,682.53. The company has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.