Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $39,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at about $315,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,928,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 88.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,645,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Baird R W raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,917.46 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $161.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,887.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,642.68.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Booking Company 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.