Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 28 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Booking were worth $14,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 80.0% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BKNG. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,033.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4,898.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,591.58. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $165.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.23%.

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.