Rovida Investment Management Ltd Takes $7.46 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Rovida Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,456,000. Booking accounts for approximately 2.3% of Rovida Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.0% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in Booking by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,709.72 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,788.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,713.79.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS 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 issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.