Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 104 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up 1.1% of Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 600.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,295.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $140.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,825.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,666.88. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. 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. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.