Dodge & Cox Has $3.89 Billion Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Dodge & Cox lowered its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 783,572 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,586 shares during the period. Booking makes up about 2.3% of Dodge & Cox's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Dodge & Cox owned about 2.37% of Booking worth $3,893,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,986,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $1,958,352,000. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $32.47 on Friday, hitting $4,573.31. 216,763 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,864. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,695.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,771.47. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Booking's payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cfra upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,278.66.

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.