MetLife Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 352 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $42,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.1% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,709,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in shares of Booking by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 141 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter worth $98,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Booking by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Booking from $3,560.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna raised their target price 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,820.50.

Booking Stock Down 0.9 %

BKNG traded down $46.79 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $5,167.93. The company had a trading volume of 8,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,926. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,528.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,063.21. The stock has a market cap of $171.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,079.50 and a 52 week high of $5,237.00.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.75%.

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.