Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,155 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 13,026 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.24% of Booking worth $393,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 2.0% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC increased its stake in Booking by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BTIG Research upgraded shares of 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. Benchmark lifted their price objective 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. increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,120.00 target price (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,374.90.

Booking Stock Down 0.1 %

BKNG traded down $3.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $4,280.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 226,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,088. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $4,757.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,760.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. 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 released 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. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. 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.