Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,129 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Booking were worth $40,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Booking by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,293 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,393,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 269 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,775,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,836,000. Finally, Natixis raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 13,590 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $67,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BKNG. BTIG Research upgraded Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush boosted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities cut their price objective on Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,278.66.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock traded up $8.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $4,836.39. 101,414 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 249,428. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $158.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50-day moving average is $4,658.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,788.57.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $5.18 billion. Analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a boost from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Booking 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.