Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 467 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $63,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $343,000. X Square Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 386 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $11,010,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $1,958,352,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,661,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,779.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,727.45. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $152.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.