Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Has $2.88 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 600.0% during the fourth 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. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,709.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,788.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,713.79.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

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.