M&T Bank Corp Trims Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

M&T Bank Corp cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,519 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 321 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Booking were worth $62,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,350,605,000 after acquiring an additional 11,211 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,073,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Booking by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,763,797,000 after acquiring an additional 13,429 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,249,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,649 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $19.06 on Wednesday, hitting $4,917.46. 213,047 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 278,572. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,887.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,642.68. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $161.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,370.43.

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.