Fisher Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,429 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,763,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in Booking by 55.9% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,921,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,897,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $519,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its stake in Booking by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in Booking by 11.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,423,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $5,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Booking from $4,448.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,785.00.

Booking Trading Down 0.6 %

BKNG stock opened at $5,177.15 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,079.50 and a 52 week high of $5,216.00. The company has a market cap of $171.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4,482.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,043.93.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

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.