Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 26.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $42,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Garner Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 3.2% in the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,788,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, 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 valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,673.38 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4,872.56 and a 200 day moving average of $4,662.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently 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.