Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Sells 332 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,721 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 332 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Booking were worth $78,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,853 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $39,019,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 497 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,469,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 98.9% in the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 5,579 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,719,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $497,000. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $440,967,000 after buying an additional 50,605 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark lifted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,327.28.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock traded up $8.62 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $4,565.46. 107,342 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 247,997. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4,712.69 and a 200-day moving average of $4,771.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a P/E/G 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 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 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 payout ratio is 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.