Scotia Capital Inc. Boosts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,853 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $39,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,321,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $896,455,000 after acquiring an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Booking by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,495,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Booking by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

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Booking Stock Up 0.3 %

BKNG traded up $14.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $4,570.88. The stock had a trading volume of 99,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,979. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $4,712.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,771.67. The stock has a market cap of $149.99 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Booking's payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush lifted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered Booking from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,327.28.

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.