Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $34.96 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,037 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 261 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Booking were worth $34,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Booking by 234.8% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 25,776 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $128,066,000 after acquiring an additional 18,077 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 797 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,960,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 70,471 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $350,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,945 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 836 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,154,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GM Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Booking by 73.3% in the 4th quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank cut Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG traded up $92.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $4,709.72. The stock had a trading volume of 232,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,611. The firm has a market cap of $154.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,788.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,713.79. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking's payout ratio is currently 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.