Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Raises Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Booking were worth $973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $4,752.80 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4,784.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,721.67. The stock has a market cap of $155.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho increased their target price 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 lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.