43 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Acquired by Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 43 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Booking by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in Booking by 1.9% during the third quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W upgraded Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4,789.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,700.90.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

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.