Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires 1,000 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,500 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Booking were worth $22,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 43.6% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 428 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Tabor Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth $1,824,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth $15,164,000. Finally, Wallace Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth $202,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. Bank of America lifted their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities dropped their price target on Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,327.28.

Booking Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $62.17 on Thursday, reaching $4,554.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 243,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,946. The firm has a market cap of $149.44 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $4,721.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,760.98.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking's payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.