Prudential PLC Has $9.05 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Prudential PLC grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 86.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $9,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after buying an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $207,089,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 3,940.8% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,926,000 after purchasing an additional 37,477 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,284.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,757.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,750.17. The company has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 target price (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,374.90.

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.