Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Bought by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 822 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Booking by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,455,000 after acquiring an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,495,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,284.02 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 has a market cap of $140.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4,757.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,750.17.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,374.90.

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.