KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $70,119,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4,789.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,694.74.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. 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.