Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires Shares of 3,965 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,965 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,700,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Adero Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the third quarter valued at $214,000. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in Booking by 81.1% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 163 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the third quarter valued at $206,000. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Booking by 15.4% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 12,977 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 232.5% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 256 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $5,850.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,370.43.

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Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock traded up $28.23 on Friday, hitting $4,617.26. 574,374 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 232,504. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The business's fifty day moving average is $4,789.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,694.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase 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 is 22.19%.

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.