FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Sells 17 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co lessened its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17 shares during the period. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 13,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $69,071,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Pointe Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $219,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Booking by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Booking by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,034.55 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,900.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,594.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.