Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,600 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $67,571,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,321,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 5.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Up 2.0 %

BKNG stock traded up $91.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $4,586.53. The company had a trading volume of 304,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,358. The business has a 50 day moving average of $4,715.54 and a 200 day moving average of $4,766.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,120.00 price objective (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.