Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) to Issue $8.75 Quarterly Dividend

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of 8.75 per share by the business services provider on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th.

Booking has a dividend payout ratio of 17.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Booking to earn $202.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $35.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.2%.

Booking Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $72.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4,749.11. 519,002 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,425. The firm has a market cap of $159.19 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 1 year low of $2,756.39 and a 1 year high of $4,856.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4,118.59 and a 200 day moving average of $3,872.22.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $83.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $77.94 by $5.95. The business had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.63 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.85% and a negative return on equity of 165.63%. Analysts expect that Booking will post 177.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BKNG. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $5,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities raised their price target 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. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,680.18.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company 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.