GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Sells 17,444 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 126,956 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,444 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for approximately 10.2% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $630,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 1.9% during the third quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price target (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4,789.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,700.90. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.