TD Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of Booking worth $184,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rovida Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,456,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 139.9% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 47,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $238,464,000 after purchasing an additional 27,993 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Booking by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Baird R W raised Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,777.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $156.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4,788.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,721.16. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 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 company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

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.